Naruto Uzumaki
by LastShinobiKing
Summary: Naruto of the Ishigan, he has poison chakra and an eye that turns people to stone. He has the knowledge of his family and a will to protect the village. How will he do in the face of war? How will he find love? Naruto and Hana, Naruto with a bloodline, smart Naruto. AU
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Naruto of the Ishigan, he has poison chakra and an eye that turns people to stone. He has the knowledge of his family and a will to protect the village. How will he do in the face of war? How will he find love? Naruto and Hana, Naruto with a bloodline, smart Naruto.** **This is an alternate universe story that will see how Naruto develops given some very careful changes, some more important than others, but as they say, the wings of a butterfly can start a hurricane.**

 **AN:** **Hello, while this is my first story on this account I have written fanfiction before. I never finished those stories and so I thought I would start fresh. I never put this much effort in before, my longest story previously was 36K words with 9 chapters, this time I am trying to make each chapter longer and more detailed. I hope you enjoy this story, I really wanted to write this story as it is one I have wanted to read for some time. Thanks and I hope you enjoy. If you have any criticism or comment feel free to message me or leave a review.**

 **Chapter 1**

"Naruto, there is something I have to tell you," The Hokage had been mulling over these words and their delivery for some time. He had carefully considered when Naruto should be told the truth, the whole truth.

"What is it Jii-sama?" the boy asked quietly and nervously. He was always afraid of authority, and there was no greater authority. Sensing the boy's concern Sarutobi smirked slightly at the boy's visible concern.

"Well Naruto, we have a lot to discuss. First, though, I want you to know that no matter what I will always take care of you and that those who love you always will." At this Naruto's face contorted into a puzzled look, he did not know where the Hokage was going. "Nine years ago you were born, on the same night the Kyubbi escaped and terrorized the village."

"Jii-sama I know all of that already, everyone does." The still young boy interrupted the old man.

"I know Naruto I was getting to the important part," the man sighed slightly. The important part is the hardest part. "The Kyubbi was not killed. The fourth Hokage sealed the fox inside a vessel, his son," the Hokage paused for a moment. "Naruto you are the son of the fourth Hokage, you hold the Kyuubi."

"The fourth was my father?" the boy asked with a whisper, the Hokage was certain the boy would have latched on to the latter.

"Yes, he was Naruto." As the words left the mouth of the Hokage Naruto began crying. The Hokage moved from his desk chair to behind the chair Naruto sat in, he put his hands on Naruto's shoulders.

"Am I a demon," the question was a whimper. Naruto sounded as if he was begging the Hokage to say no.

"Naruto, you are a hero. The demon is sealed inside you, it is not you." The Hokage said this with certainty. "Naruto do you think you can compose yourself for a moment, I know this is a lot, I have more to say." The boy sniffled and nodded his head, he was still visibly shaken. "Naruto, because of the demon you have more chakra. Because of your family you have another power, a bloodline," at this Naruto perked up if only slightly.

"Like the white-eyed people?" Naruto asked. He had not attended class the day that bloodlines were discussed and he couldn't quite remember the name of their bloodline. He had heard the name one time or another, but the only Hyuga he had interacted with had been girl from his class was quiet but he knew her family was very important.

"Yes, the 'white-eyed people' are the Hyuga clan they posses an ability called the Byakugan. It allows them to see in 360 degrees as well as the internal chakra system." The Hokage stopped for a second before continuing, "Your bloodline is slightly more complicated as it deals both with your chakra and your eyes."

"Is the bloodline from my father? I didn't know that the Yondaime had a bloodline," Naruto interrupted again. By now the Hokage would have been annoyed, but understandably the boy was just curious.

"No the bloodline is from your mother, Kushina Uzumaki. She was very powerful as a shinobi, she came from a village called Whirlpool and was the last holder of the Kyubbi. As for your bloodline...the first part of your bloodline involves chakra nature, do you know what that is?"

"No, isn't chakra just chakra?"

"Actually Naruto people have different kinds of chakra. My chakra for example is naturally more fire-like. It is thus easier for me to perform fire jutsu. The basic kinds of chakra are: fire, water, earth, wind and lightning. Some people have special kinds of chakra based on their bloodlines such as ice, typically it is a mix of two kinds of chakra." The Hokage paused for a moment, he knew that this was a lot.

"So Ice would be like water and wind?" Naruto asked, he seemed to have gotten over his initial shock.

"Yes. Exactly. Your bloodline is slightly different. Your chakra is not a mix of any two or three, it is completely unique. Your chakra is poison. That means you'll have a harder time learning elemental jutsu, but on the bright side you can learn jutsu that other ninja simply cannot." Naruto nodded his head and smiled in excitement. "That isn't the only part of your bloodline. The second aspect is like the byakugan, it lies in the eyes. At some point you will unlock the Ishigan. It allows one thing for you to turn enemies to stone at a mere glance."

"Really? That's incredible. How come the Uzumaki clan is not more powerful?" Naruto asked honestly. The ability seemed so strong.

"The Uzumaki clan was never a large or unified clan. Also there are some drawbacks. When someone unlocks the eye at first they can hardly turn someone to stone for more than a moment or so. It is only with great practice that someone can be turned to stone for a longer period of time. Some people are great masters. Your mother could turn people to stone for hours. She was a rare case."

"She was really powerful…"

"She was, as was your father. You will be too Naruto, if you try hard Naruto you have all the tools to be Hokage. To be great. Now Naruto, no one your age knows the truth of the Kyubbi. Only myself, the sannin Jiraiya, the Jounin Kakashi and the clan heads Tsume and Hiashi know the truth of your bloodline because they were close to your parents. I give you full discretion in revealing your secret. If you wish you can talk to these people or me about your parents anytime. I have also arranged for Kakashi to tutor you for five hours a week or so." The Hokage made the move from behind Naruto back to his seat. He smiled at the boy, the future of the village.

"Jii-sama thank you for telling me the truth. I will work harder than ever. I will honor my parents."

"I am glad to hear that Naruto. I have one more thing for you," The Hokage pushed a key across his desk. "This is to your new home, your parents home. You can live there now, I also stocked it with some new goodies for you. It is located next to the Hyuuga compound. I won't keep you any longer." The boy ran out of the room, waving bye to the Hokage.

...

Naruto darted through the village. He paid no mind to villagers who flung curses at him as he ran could spoil this. Eventually he was sprinting passed the clan compounds which were along the outer area of the village. He made it passed the Nara compound and finally found the Hyuuga compound. The estate had many houses since the clan had so many members. These people would now be his he finally made it passed the Hyuuga home he saw it. The house was huge. It was four times the size of what was the standard area of a single family Konoha home. On top of that it was three stories. There were trees surrounding the property and the land was covered in blooming wild flowers. He stood there for some time in awe. Eventually he took the key out of his pocket. He stared at it.

Naruto made his way to the pushed the key into the lock and entered the home; he pushed open the door slowly. It smelled like lemon-scented cleaning product. The floors were hardwood and all the furniture seemed brand new. On many of the walls were pictures of his family. His mother and father, other relatives he could not name.

"Naruto I-" Naruto jumped at the sound of a voice behind him, instinctively he grabbed the back of his neck and turned to face the man. It was a rather tall man wearing a mask. His headband covered his left eye. He had long silver spiky hair and a dead look in his other eye, he didn't appear threatening. "Sorry if I frightened you. My name is Kakashi Hatake," Naruto relaxed his posture slightly embarrassed. Kakashi was one of the names the Hokage had mentioned.

"I was your father's student, the only living one. I came because the Hokage asked me to train you. I figured I would introduce myself and show you around."

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said with a bow and a smile.

'I wonder if this is new behavior. Everyone is always calling this kid a brat, he seems polite enough.' Kakashi kept his observations of his pupil to himself.

For the next hour or so Kakashi gave Naruto the tour of the Namikaze estate. The home had 20 bedrooms and nine bathrooms. In addition to the three floors above ground there was a basement which featured a large training studio. There was a very nice kitchen as well, not that Naruto could cook anything that wasn't microwavable. In the backyard there was a larger training area, a garden for food and a private bath house. There was also a clan shrine to the Uzumaki, Naruto assumed that had been added after his mother's arrival. Naruto had been placed in the head room by the Hokage as that was where all the goodies were.

The Hokage seemed to spare no expense in the gifts that came in addition to the new house. The home came with a fully stocked kitchen, complete with fresh produce and other products. Most of these products were much healthier than what Naruto would normally consume. The Hokage had also managed to deliver quite a few instructional scrolls on jutsu as well as history and theory. Many of the scrolls included jutsu only Naruto could use. Beyond that Naruto was gifted an entirely new wardrobe and various other ninja tools like kunai and shuriken. The clothes Naruto would now be wearing was much less flashy than his trademark orange jumpsuit. He received a set of jackets shirts shorts and pants. The pants and shorts were both plain and black, they had several discreet pockets but not too many as to ensure they were not too bulky. The shirts were plain and gray, a darker shade that was hardly any lighter than your standard black. The jacket was clearly custom made. It was a a platinum color that really went well with the pants and contrasted with the boy's lightning-like hair. Near the heart was the logo of the village hidden in the leaves in red that seemed to be the same color as a living fire.. On the back of the, in the same color, was the traditional Uzumaki spiral, on the back of the hood, in Kanji, was the name of his father's clan "Namikaze" (波風).

After Naruto was done being in awe of the house and his new gifts Kakashi began to make a quick lunch for the two. They had much to discuss. The meal was nothing special, steamed rice and roasted pork. The two sat at a smaller table to enjoy their food and discuss.

"Naruto, as I am sure the Hokage has told you, I am to be your teacher," the jounin was admittedly nervous and so he was speaking at a slightly faster rate than normal. He had never been able to speak to his sensei's son, only watch from afar. "I am to teach you according to my mission for 5 to 7 hours a week directly. That is not much time considering that you are fairly behind from what I am led to believe." Naruto lowered his head in shame, he had never been an exceptional student. The teachers never gave him a fair shot and his chakra control was terrible. He had lost a lot of motivation to do well in the academy.

Kakashi saw the sad look in the boy's eyes and could tell that he was disheartened.

"Don't worry. I promise that you will be an excellent shinobi in time for academy graduation in three years," The boy looked a little more calm and Kakashi continued. "During these hours where we meet I want to spend time on jutsu and strategy, I don't want to worry about physical training. If I give you a regimen will you stick to it?"

"Of course Sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, the look in the boy's eyes was eerie to Kakashi, it was a look one man was known for, Minato.

"Okay then. Here is the regimen," Naruto was handed a scroll. "Each week we'll set our schedule according to my mission load. I also want you to start trying harder in the academy. The teachers will not be giving you a hard time anymore," Naruto nodded in excitement at the prospect of a fair shot. "This week we'll do two hours every other day starting tomorrow."

"This is awesome, thank you so much sensei."

"Don't mention it Naruto. I just want you to be the best ninja you can be." Kakashi meant what he said genuinely. Minato Namikaze was one of the most important people in his life, that meant Naruto was too. Kakashi could count on one hand the number of important people to him, people he would do anything for.

"Sensei…" Naruto began meekly.

"Go ahead Naruto," Kakashi interjected encouragingly.

"Do you think you could tell me some stories about my parents. I want to know what they were like."

For the next two hours Naruto was enamoured, even after they had finished eating Kakashi kept going. The copy nin recounted numerous anecdotes of Naruto's parents. Kakashi typically a quiet man was willing to share these stories now. Normally he was sad when talking about his sensei, kushina and team minato but it all flowed out when he was speaking with Naruto. Eventually the elder shinobi left. Naruto washed the dishes and put them away. He set an alarm to wake up for school tomorrow and then knocked out. The blonde haired ninja in training had a long and adventurous day and now he needed his sleep.

...

Naruto was not the only soon-to-be ninja in Konoha to be experiencing a life-altering day. Naruto had run passed the Uchiha compound, he paid it no mind. Little did Naruto know that one of the most important historical events in the village's history was occurring on the inside of the clan walls: the massacre of the Uchiha clan.

Itachi Uchiha was careful, all good shinobi were. He was especially careful when it came to the completion of a mission. Today that meant the assassination of the entire traitorous Uchiha clan. Itachi would have become the head of the clan one day, but his father's actions ensured this would never happen now. Fugaku Uchiha had decided that the village hidden in the leaves belonged to him. Itachi on the orders of the Hokage had to clear the village of this conspiracy to take control. The only clean hands: Sasuke.

Itachi was leagues ahead of the rest of the Uchiha. Most of them were lazy with their powerful eye, they felt the need to not train and were complacent. Itachi was powerful and hard working, so the murder was simple. During that day, the day before the phoenix fire festival which every Uchiha attended, Itachi killed all of them. He walked slowly through the compound and setting killing glances and kunai toward his family.

By the end the compound was littered with dead bodies, most of the kills were clean, very little blood. Itachi then sat at his father's desk and wrote a letter to his brother, the one he decided to save. He told him the truth, this was a violation of the mission, but Itachi thought he deserved this much. He did not tell Sasuke that this was done on orders from the village, only that Itachi had decided to stop the sins of his clan. After the letter was written Itachi made his way to the front gate. He carried with him a blade that had belonged to the Uchiha for a century or so. He jammed the blade into his spleen and waited as he died.

Sasuke walked home from the academy the same way every day. Every day he thought about how far behind his brother he was, he loved itachi and wanted to be just like him. That was the reason Sasuke hated the academy, he saw it more as an obstacle than a tool. The path he walked was always very pleasant. The route took him through the market district and was typically met with many smiling faces. The people of Konoha loved the Uchiha, the police force was traditionally kind to them and so their crown prince belonged to the people as well.

Sasuke, after his leisurely venture home arrived at the clan gate, he opened it and walked in. What he saw next shocked him. His brother flopped over, a sword driven into him. Sasuke ran over to the lifeless body, pale as a ghost, cold to the touch. It was too much. Sasuke, holding his brother's hand, collapsed to the ground. The gate to the Uchiha clan swinging open in the wind of Konoha, all of this yet to be discovered.

Konoha's anbu regularly surveilled the village. They watched everything from the Hokage monument to the Ichiraku ramen stall. Originally it had been an issue as to whether the Anbu would be allowed to surveil the clan compounds. Eventually the clans and villages came to an agreement allowing it. The Hokage had sacrificed the ultimate authority on the team assignments in order to allow the Anbu to look into the compounds. This trade was worth it in the long run as it is what in part led to the discovery of the Uchiha coup plans.

"Rat, is the gate to the compound typically just open like that?" A man in a cow mask asked the woman next to him.

"No, let's go, be on guard." The rate responded quickly, the two shinobi rushed down. They saw the scene and checked Sasuke and Itachi's pulse.

"Rat, signal for assistance. I need to get Sasuke to the hospital, now," the cow masked shinobi picked up the boy and took off to the medical center at Anbu speed. 'This is not good, this is going to a long day.' was the thought running through the Anbu operatives head.

...

Sasuke snapped up, suddenly he was awake. It was as if he had woken up from a nightmare in a cold sweat, but sasuke was waking up to a boy immediately took in his surroundings. The hospital room was fairly large and private. There was a large window which opened up to the village. In the chair across the bed sat the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama!" Sasuke said shocked, he was in the process of getting out of bed to stand at attention for the sitting Hokage.

"Sasuke, lay down relax," the Hokage began with a sigh. This boy was about to receive the worst news of his life and of course it was the job of the Hokage to deliver such news. "Sasuke, I won't sugar coat things. Itachi killed the Uchiha clan, you are the only survivor," the Hokage stopped there to allow the boy some time.

Sasuke let his jaw fall open, he could not move, he could not think. He was no the Uchiha Clan. His brother killed everyone. 'How?' was all he could think and not a single answer came to mind.

"Sasuke, there is one other thing, your brother had a letter in his pocket. It was addressed to you. I'll leave you to read it, but Sasuke know that I will do anything I can to help you. You may have lost your clan, but this village, especially myself, care for you. You are not alone." With that the Hokage handed Sasuke a letter, it was inside a linen envelope with only the word 'Brother' written on the front. The Hokage bowed and exited the room, while he would have loved to comfort the boy the village was in crisis.

'What could he mean to say to me' Sasuke was dazed but he tore open the envelope to expose the letter itself. He took a deep breath, and another before he began to read:

 _Sasuke,_

 _I know that you must be confused, hurt and beyond angry. I am sorry that you are without the clan now. I am sorry that it came to this. I would love to be able to tell you that this was not necessary, that I did this on my own whim and that you could simply hate me. That is not the case. The truth is that this had to be done, for the sake of the village and for the sake of the clan (as odd as that may sound to you know)._

 _Our father was a proud man. So proud that when he was passed over for the position of Hokage, twice, he began his own path to taking over the village. He planned a civil war where the Uchiha would storm the village attack the other clans and then inherit the village. We would have lost. He had infected the entire clan. Our father ordered me to assassinate the Hokage, I could not complete that task, I am a Leaf Ninja. So how could I destroy our clan, our blood?The Uchiha clan is powerful and that is the heritage of your blood. You are strong Sasuke. We once relied on our power and used that power in noble ways to earn an honorable standing. Under our father's leadership our family had been corrupted; they turned against the village, accepted bribes, allowed members to rape prisoners. There are too many grievances to list. I was not immune, I was not without sin and so that is why I killed myself. You though Sasuke, you are pure, you are the future. I leave you with the words of our grandfather:_

 _"The will of fire is the will of the Uchiha, we are the spark of this land. We can be powerful through our will, our eyes, our souls. So go forward as a part of this great tree, and grow with its intertwined branches."_

 _With the sincerest apologies I can offer,_

 _Your brother Itachi._

Sasuke did not know what to think. His family was full of traitors. They deserved to die, that was the law of shinobi. They were his family, still. The boy laid back lost in his thoughts and sadness.

...

Naruto woke up to the sound of his new alar. He got dressed in the new clothes the Hokage had purchased him. He had decided to discard what had been his signature orange outfit, in favor of his new sleek clothes. He then began on the training regimen that Kakashi had gifted him. The morning workout mostly consisted of a run and some other basic aerobic exercises, along with some push-ups. It was not more than he could handle. After that he spent some time practicing his kunai and shuriken throwing. He ended up having white rice and raw eggs for breakfast. After that he took off to school.

Naruto sat closer to the front than he usually did. As people poured into the room he noticed them chatting about his new appearance. He also noticed that Sasuke was missing from the class. Kiba Inuzuka sat next to Naruto, the two had never been friends but they were friendly acquaintances.

"Naruto, I have to say your new clothes are a huge improvement.'

"Thanks Kiba! I got some new clothes last night." Naruto wanted to invite Kiba to his house to train, but he knew it would be difficult to answer all the boys questions. "Kiba, you want to train for a bit after class tomorrow?" Naruto asked, he had new found confidence in his abilities and himself now that he knew who his parents were.

"Yeah, that sounds great Naruto. We can train and have lunch at my house. I'm sure my mom wouldn't mind." Kiba shot a smile Naruto's way, and naruto rubbed Akamaru's head.

"Hey, dog breath move I'm trying to get to my seat!" Ino yelled loudly as she pushed both Naruto and Kiba's chairs. Kiba responded with a growl, Naruto responded with a sigh. Neither of them could respond verbally as Iruka had walked into the room.

After Iruka took attendance he began his lecture.

"Can anyone name all five of the Great Shinobi villages?" Iruka raised the question knowing all, if not most of the class could.

Sakura's hand immediately shot up, always quick to show off. "The five great nations are Iwa, Konoha, Kumo, Suna and Kiri," she said it all with a smile clearly very proud of herself.

"That is correct Sakura," Iruka said happily. "Today we are going to learn about the village hidden by rocks, Iwagakure." With that Iruka dove into his lesson and began discussing the complex history of relations between the two villages. Eventually, Iruka discussed the fourth Hokage.

"The fourth Hokage killed dozens of Iwa shinobi over the course of the war and effectively crippled them for decades. He is considered to be Public enemy number one." At this Naruto raised his hand, he was eager to learn about the man who was his father.

"Iruka-sensei, what was the name of the Yondaime's signature jutsu?" Iruka was genuinely shocked, Naruto never participated in class.

"I'm glad you asked Naruto. The fourth had two signature jutsu; the first is the Flying Thunder God Jutsu and the other is the Rasengan. One effectively let him teleport and the other allowed him to form a ball of spinning chakra. They were S-rank and A-rank respectively." Iruka finished up, happy to see the blonde taking notes for once.

Class would eventually come to an end. Naruto would take his new route home. The only one to notice the change in his route was the village genius, Shikamaru. Shikamaru was typically too lazy to be curious, but this may have presented an exception. Shikamaru had never once seen Naruto in this section of the village.

"Oi! Naruto!" he called after the blonde. Naruto turned around hearing the familiar voice calling after him. He saw Shikamaru behind him and was suddenly nervous for some reason.

"Yeah, what's up Shikamaru?"

"What're you doing around here? I've never seen you around here before." Shikamaru asked trying to avoid any sort of accusation in his tone. He had known Naruto for some time and knew he didn't respond well to accusation or criticism.

"Oh, I moved in nearby. I asked the Hokage for a place near the outside of the city. You know I'm not exactly on the best terms with the villagers." Naruto tried to laugh at the end to mellow the message.

"Oh I see, that's pretty cool. You should drop by later and we can play Shogi or something." Shikamaru thought inviting people over was troublesome, but his mom raised him to be 'hospitable'.

"Sounds great Shika! I'll catch you later then," Naruto waved goodbye to Shikamaru and continued on his way to the place he now called home. Naruto enjoyed the new scenery of his walk home, he was greeted by beautiful trees and flowers rather than jeering eyes.

He made his way to the door and stuck the key in the lock. He had done this a thousand times at his apartment, but now it felt like more. It felt like he was opening the door to the life he could've had. But the life was his now and he knew that the possibilities were endless.

Naruto pulled the door open and almost had a heart attack at what was on the other side. A smiling Kakashi bent down at his level staring back.

"Aghhhhhhh!" the young boy screamed loudly.

"Shhh." The silver haired man said as he put his finger to Naruto's lips. "It's just me Naruto, are you ready to practice?"

Naruto gathered himself before answering his new sensei, "Yes, of course, I am."

The two of them made it to the back of the house to the training grounds on Naruto's land. Naruto stood across from his new sensei and waited for orders.

"Okay Naruto, first we are going to learn the three basic academy jutsu. Let's start with the clone jutsu." Kakashi quickly ran through the hand seals and three copies of him popped up beside him. Kakashi then motioned for Naruto to attempt the same thing. Naruto went through the hand seals rather slowly channeling the required chakra to no effect. Kakashi tilted his head slightly, he seemed to have done everything right. "Try again Naruto."

The boy followed orders, this time he went through the hand signs slightly more quickly. Again, nothing. Kakashi now tilted his head the other way. He was truly puzzled. No one should have chakra control this bad. He wondered 'Could it be the fox?'

"Naruto, I want you to channel as little chakra as you can into this piece of paper." Kakashi handed Naruto the piece of paper and watched as the boy complied. The paper turned a darker shade of blue. Kakashi was surprised, but that was hardly noticeable as you could only see his right eye. "Naruto this paper is sensitive to chakra. It changes color depending on how much chakra it has been exposed to. You channeled enough chakra into the paper to produce at least 300 standard clones." Naruto's emotions were not as concealed as Kakashi's and the boy was visibly shocked. Kakashi thought for a moment on how this could be resolved. Without a word Kakashi disappeared in a flurry of leaves and dust. Now it was Naruto's turn to be puzzled.

Naruto stood patiently and waited for his sensei to return. Eventually, he did, the same way he left, in an instant.

"Naruto, I have received permission to teach you a hidden jutsu of the village. You are not allowed to teach it to anyone. It could kill them. Because of your prisoner I believe you have chakra reserves larger than that of the Hokage himself." Naruto's mouth formed an 'O', he was not expecting that news. "Do you understand?"

"Of course Sensei."

"Okay, follow after me," Kakashi completed the single hand seal to him, from a cloud of smoke appeared an exact copy. Kakashi proceeded to high-five himself. This truly shocked Naruto. The boy in a rush to complete the jutsu channeled slightly more chakra than he should have. A large puff of smoke cleared to reveal around 45 Narutos.

"Naruto, this is amazing, that's more shadow clones then I could make right now. You have huge chakra stores." Kakashi knew that this would mean training would go much more smoothly. Naruto could use these clones to learn jutsu and tactics. "These clones are physical copies of you, they can mold chakra, and when they are dispelled they send memories back to you."

"So we can use them for training?" Kakashi nodded in response to Naruto. For the next hour and a half Naruto and his clones learned the tree-climbing exercise. The skill was not only useful as a skill, it also increased the control Naruto would have over his chakra. If Naruto could achieve even standard chunin levels of control he could create 1000 shadow clones. Kakashi could only imagine a thousand of the blondes marching into battle. Kakashi observed him and felt that he would be done with this skill by their next training session. Naruto was eager to learn.

"Dispel the clones and come here," Kakashi barked, it reminded him of his days as an Anbu captain. "Let's sit," they sat criss-cross across from one another, Naruto waited for Itachi to continue. "I want to teach you my first principle today. I think it is one that you will only understand as you grow, but one that should be learned young. Ninja who break the ninja code are scum, but ninja who betray their comrades are less than scum."

"But isn't the first duty of a ninja to their village?" Naruto asked honestly, they had learned that absolute loyalty was a key part of the shinobi way in the academy.

"In theory it is. On a mission and in combat your first responsibility is to your teammates, the second is to the mission." Kakashi truly believed this, as did Minato, as did Jiraiya, as did Sarutobi. "Naruto you did well today, next time we will go over a little bit more. Keep up with your training routine and if you can get to the top of a tree by out next lesson. Oh and I almost forgot the Hokage gave me this for you." Kakashi handed over a note to the boy.

 _Dear Naruto,_

 _Hope you are adjusting well to the news and your new home. I set up a meeting for you with Hiashi Hyuga at 7 tonight. Please do not be late, he is doing both of us a favor._

 _Thanks._

Naruto looked up from the note to ask his sensei what he thought the meeting was about, but the copy ninja had already disappeared. Naruto checked his watch, it was already 6. He showered, changed and made his way over to the Hyuga compound. A week ago Naruto never imagined he would be setting foot in this place. He was beyond nervous. He approached the gate which was guarded by two members of the Hyuga clan. They had been told he was coming, one of them led him to Hiashi's office. Naruto saw Hinata, a girl in his class, on the way there and waved. Hinata was very confused as to what the village pariah was doing in her clan compound. Hinata did not feel that Naruto was a bad person, but she knew that most of the town did not look upon him favorably and assumed her father held the same position.

...

"I am glad that you are punctual Naruto. I had worried that you sensei had already taught you that being late was acceptable, he is rather infamously late." Hiashi made the rare joke hoping that it would relax the boy. Judging from his pulse, it didn't work. "The Hokage asked me to speak with you because one day you will gain a seat on the Council of Clans. This body is an advisory board to the Hokage on all sorts of affairs."

"Why did the Hokage chose you to be my tutor Hiashi-sama?" Naruto asked, he knew that the Hokage had listed Hiashi among the people who knew his parents, but he didn't know how. 'He is far more respectful than I would have guessed' Hiashi paused in thought before responding.

"You can just call me Hiashi, and if i had to guess the Hokage selected me because I was teammates with your father as genin. On top of that, I am one of the more powerful clan heads in the village." Hiashi scowled slightly, that statement was more true than ever with the Uchiha clan effectively wiped out. "Speaking of which I actually have a story I wanted to tell you about your father. It was a lesson he taught me some time ago. It is something I still consider whenever I make a decision and I think it is an excellent first lesson. You see your father and I were chunin on our first mission without a commanding officer…

"If we take all these people have then they won't be able to recover." Minato saw the obvious issue with taking all that these people had even if it was fair payment.

"They owe us for what became an A rank mission," Hiashi argued back.

"Yeah, but what if we get a promise to pay. Then they'll have a chance to recover and they may just be inclined to sweeten the pot. Not to mention we gain a possible regional ally." Minato was certain that the way to go was to allow these people time to rebuild and develop income channels for their village. Hiashi thought for some time and could not poke any holes in the man's logic.

...

"Eventually they did pay us, eventually they became a regional trading partner and 6% of Konoha's income comes from their contracts. We would have lost that as well as a powerful land ally if it weren't for your father." Hiashi thought fondly of his days as a youth, courting his wife and remembering his best friend. "Can you think of the lessons in this story Naruto?" Naruto thought carefully before he answered the man.

"Always think of the big picture." The boy's answer was simple, blunt and partially true.

"Good Naruto, that is one of the two main lessons in this story. The other is that of mercy. A merciful shinobi is one that does not have to look over his shoulder as much. Of course this does not mean that we do not kill it means that sometimes we will have the power to save lives and we should." Hiashi used these stories of Naruto's father to teach several lessons. All of this was prep for the more logistic lessons of being in the council and the laws of Konoha. After going back and forth for some time before Hiashi called it a night and asked Naruto if he had any questions.

"When will I have to fill my seat on the council?"

"At the latest you will begin attending meetings as a member of the council when you reach the rank of Chunin or turn 16. That being said, whenever I deem you ready the Hokage is prepared to allow you to attend and vote at meetings."

...

Sasuke walked into his clan compound for the first time since the incident. He had waited until it was dark out to leave the hospital. He knew that by now word would spread around the village, he was not in the mood to be showered in apologies by the villagers. He just wanted to go home and sleep. He had yet to decide when he would return to the academy. He had not lost his resolve to become a shinobi mind you.

Sasuke walked into his home, eyes closed, he made the trip to his room by memory. He did not want to see any of this, all of these memories. He still could not believe the truth of his clan, but that was something for later consideration. He made it to his room, changed into his clothes for bed, and went to sleep. Emotional exhaustion was very good for one thing, making it easier to fall asleep. Sasuke felt slightly more at peace than he had in the last couple of days. He drifted off to sleep eventually.

Sasuke was immediately wrapped in a dream, he knew it was a dream as he was floating about in a black void. This was far from typical for him, he hardly dreamed so vividly, this felt very real. All of a sudden he was no longer alone. Floating in front of Sasuke in the void, with bright red eyes, was Itachi Uchiha.

"Itachi" Sasuke uttered the name, shocked at who was in front of him. This dream felt so convoluted and real, in the confines of his mind he allowed something that he would never do anywhere else. Sasuke cried. His brother simply floated there waiting for Sasuke to collect his emotions. After Sasuke cried for what seemed like hours, his tears dried up. Itachi spoke.

"Sasuke, what is your dream?" the figure of Itachi asked his younger brother.

"I want to restore the clan, to its old honor and status," Sasuke answered quickly, he had given this much thought after reading the letter Itachi had left for him.

"Is that all?" The shadow asked again, seemingly surprised. "Where do your allegiances lie Sasuke?" This was a comment Sasuke had to think about. He considered the words of his grandfather, what is meant to be a ninja, and what it meant to be an Uchiha.

"It is in the blood of the Uchiha to be great ninja, it is our destiny. To be a great ninja one must consider the needs of their village above all else. My loyalty as an Uchiha lies to the village first, then to my clan and then to myself." Sasuke said this with certainty even though he had just now realized that this was how he ordered his priorities.

"So then I'll ask again, what is your dream?" Sasuke stared at his brother's dream representation and wondered why this was his dream. Nonetheless, he answered the question, this time with true conviction.

"I will become the Hokage and a great clan head, I will lead the Uchiha into a new era of prominence."

Itachi disappeared before Sasuke could finish his last word. Sasuke for the rest of the night was tossed into a whirlwind of his most pleasant memories. Even for someone who had gone through so much he felt happy, you could see the small smile on his sleeping face. All of this was bitter sweet, images of his father and brother in a simpler time. Before his father's hunger for power drove his brother to murder.

Sasuke woke up the next morning wondering about his dream, but he resolved the decisions he'd come to in the dream world. He would Hokage and no one would stop him. He would become the strongest shinobi in Konoha and protect all the village. He would reform the Uchiha clan, as it was meant to be.

With that decision made Sasuke made his way to the kitchen and made himself breakfast. He had never cooked for himself before, but it was not that hard to prepare steamed rice and raw fish.

...

"Yeah Naruto my mom said she's making some ramen for lunch today." Naruto licked his lips, ramen was without a doubt his favorite thing to eat. Kakashi had told him to cut back, but he wasn't going to say no if it was offered to him.

"That sounds awesome! So what kind of training are we going to do?" Kiba smirked in response.

"Well I figured we would spar for a while…" Kiba gave a toothy grin and Naruto waited for him to continue, "Then my mom said she would teach us the fire-ball jutsu." Kiba looked to see how Naruto would react and as he expected the fox boy was smiling ear to ear.

"That's great Kiba! I love almost nothing more than new jutsu!" Naruto screamed this and jumped into the air mid-stride. The boy could not have asked for a better day, ramen and jutsu were to him the best things in the world.

Some time after this the two boys arrived at Kiba's house. The entire time the two of them gossiped like teenage girls. They talked about the people in their class and discussed who would end up being the great shinobi of their generation. Naruto also told Kiba about his trip to Shikamaru's house the day before. Shikamaru taught Naruto how to play the game Go, he then proceeded to beat him. Many times, so many times Naruto was positive either Shikamaru had taught him the wrong rules or was simply the best Go player in the world. They also discussed the annoying Sasuke obsessed girls in their class and how they would become liabilities later on. That of course brought up the Uchiha massacre.

"I think tomorrow I'll go see how Sasuke is doing, it must be terrible being all alone in that big compound. We didn't exactly get along before, but he is a comrade. I'll do whatever I can to help him." Naruto said this solemnly, he remembered the days where he was alone without friends or family. Kiba nodded his head as they came to their end of their journey and reached the Inuzuka clan compound.

Naruto had never seen so many dogs. The Inuzuka clan was a mid sized one. Each member had a dog and in addition many dogs not assigned to a ninja partner roamed the compound. Naruto and Kiba went through the compound until they made it to Kiba's house. It was one of the larger homes in the clan. Kiba's grandfather, Okami Inuzuka, was the clan head. In the Inuzuka clan there was no direct transition of power. The clan head announced their retirement one year before. At that point any member of the clan could enter the competition to become the clan head. The clan head would choose his replacement and they would train over the course of the year in order to properly fill the role.

The two boys walked into the door.

"Hey Mom! We're home." Kiba yelled as he entered the home. Akamaru yipped as well.

"Oh hello Kiba, and this must be Naruto. How was your day?" Kiba's mother came from down the stairs she was dressed in her special jounin vest and a body suit.

"It was great! We learned a lot about the penalties of breaking ninja rules today." Kiba said this and considered what they had learned, everything was harsh in the ninja world.

"That's a very important lesson both of you, the penalties as you now know are very serious. It is one of the reasons being a ninja is not a joke. I'm going to finish up the ramen while you boys spar, after that I'll be out to teach you both the fire ball jutsu." Tsume turned to enter the kitchen, the boys nodded and made their way outside.

"Alright Naruto, what should the rules for our spar be?" Kiba began stretching his muscles as did Akamaru. The little dog was more than adorable as he prepared for battle. Eventually he would grow into a large combat ninja dog.

"I mean, neither of us know anything too dangerous, but how about we just use taijutsu. Of course you can also use Akamaru." Kiba stood up straight done with his stretching, and shook his head.

"That's not exactly fair, how about you can use one jutsu of your choice. I am a taijutsu specialist and my family jutsu are often based in hand to hand combat," Kiba yawned after he spoke he wasn't too tired but being in the academy all day often left him slightly tired.

"Sounds good to me. Let's go!" Naruto smirked and made the sign for his now favorite jutsu. "Shadow Clone!" Naruto called out and a cloud of smoke covered the training area. Naruto quickly commanded the clones and had them henge into sticks.

"That was a lot of pomp n circumstance for nothing at all Naruto. Let's go Akamaru." Kiba and Akamaru ran toward Naruto and moved forward ready to launch themselves at the boy. Akamaru went first and Naruto focused on him, but it was a feint. Akamaru went to the ground half way through the jump and Kiba launched himself from the other side with a kick aimed at Naruto's head. A shadow clone quickly unhenged and grabbed Kiba's leg and threw him down to the ground.

"Gonna have to do better than that Kiba!" Naruto called, still on guard waiting for the dog boy to get up. Naruto was focused on the downed Kiba and forgot again about Akamaru. Next thing he knew the dog had jumped and was biting the back of his neck. He drew just a little bit of blood. Naruto poofed out of existence. Kiba was shocked. He got off the ground and immediately launched an attack on the clone which had thrown him to the ground. The punch landed and the clone again simply disappeared.

Suddenly there were 10 Naruto's on the battlefield. Kiba was more than confused. He motioned at Akamaru. The two of them ran towards the group of Naruto's and got rid of most of them. Akamaru bit one of the Naruto's and it didn't disappear. Naruto grabbed the dog and drew a kunai quickly. He put it to the puppies throat, of course with no intention of harm.

"Alright Kiba, looks like I win." Kiba sighed as Naruto placed the pup on the floor and patted him on the head Kiba sighed loudly. The two of them bowed to each other at the end of the fight. Tsume who had been watching from the house started clapping and walked out toward the two of them.

"Naruto what was that jutsu, can you teach it to me?" Kiba yelled out loudly, he was very interested in the clones Naruto made.

"I'm sorry Kiba I can't. My teacher told me that it would be dangerous. You don't have enough chakra. I have a, uhhh, medical condition that made my chakra stores larger than normal." Kiba looked interested and was going to ask a follow-up question, but Naruto was saved by Tsume who approached just in time.

"Alright who is ready to learn the Great Fireball Jutsu?" Tsume said, she did not want Kiba asking more questions, she was sure Naruto would eventually run out of answers. "This jutsu is very destructive so we'll be pointing ourselves toward the open space." Tsume waited a while as the two boys turned to face the clearing in front of the. "Alright I'll call out the hand signs and you to make them. I want you two to channel the chakra into your lungs and then you should breathe out a fireball." The two boys nodded and Tsume began. "Snake. Ram. Monkey. Boar. Horse. Tiger." Tsume did the hand signs and out of her mouth came a large well-formed ball of fire.

The two boys had different results. Kiba had a small amount of fire spurt out from his mouth and followed it up with a fit of coughing. It was to be expected. Kiba did not have large chakra reserves or great control, not to mention the fireball technique was not exactly easy. It was a C-rank technique which was no easy task for the pair of nine-year-olds. With some time it seemed that Kiba would be able to learn the jutsu. What occurred with Naruto was more than slightly different. The boy followed all the steps to a tee. Out of his mouth came not a fireball but rather a glob of purple-pink fluid, it was fairly small. The glob fell to the ground and was quickly absorbed into the dirt. The grass in the area quickly died. It seemed Naruto's poison style was quite potent.

"Naruto do you have your mother's bloodline?" the special jounin asked the boy. She had been good friends with Kushina and had been on the same team as her more than once so she was more than familiar with the bloodline.

"I do Tsume-san. But I thought I could still perform other jutsu. I am sorry about your grass." The boy bowed to the women in apology.

"It's fine Naruto. From what I know of your bloodline different people have different affinities to the poison style. Some people can only perform the poison jutsu no matter the jutsu they attempt to perform. These people often have very potent poison as well. But you need to be careful Naruto, from what I remember the chakra in your body can be very harmful to you as well." Tsume looked at the boy with great curiosity, he would truly make a special shinobi some day. "Let's go eat, you boys can practice more later."

Kiba was confused by the conversation that had just occurred. He didn't know anything about Naruto's family and definitely did not know his mom knew Naruto's. He would definitely be asking his Mom some questions later. Naruto was also intrigued by the conversation. He had learned a lot more than he knew about his bloodline, but now he had more questions. He needed some answers about his bloodlines. He didn't know where to find them.

...

"Shikamaru if you worked harder you could definitely be higher up in the class," Naruto spoke to his friends holding the ranking sheet in his hand.

"Y'know Naruto once upon a time you were at the bottom of the class, and you were okay with it." Shikamaru recalled the change Naruto had gone through over this school year and he was actually amazed. The blonde was now on his way to being a leaf shinobi.

"Yeah, but that was dumb of me. I started working hard and I moved up 21 spots from the bottom of the class." Naruto was very happy with how his day was going, he was excited to finally be in the top ten of his academy class.

"Eh, it's just not my style Naruto what can I say. I'm fine with being at the bottom two-thirds of the class." Shikamaru sighed and stared up at the clouds. "Let's just start enjoying our summer Naruto. We only have two months anyway." Naruto nodded and the two boys made their way to Shikamaru's house where they had taken to hanging out. Naruto eyed the top spots in the class and saw himself among them by the end of next year.

1\. Sasuke Uchiha

2\. Shino Aburame

3\. Hinata Hyuga

4\. Kiba Inuzuka

5\. Sakura Haruno

...

There was a small room inside the Hokage monument. It was covered in about one hundred or so seals to protect it from being spied on or located from the room had few amenities and was in fact quite minimalist. There was only one door, it was chakra reinforced steel that was almost impervious to attack. On the wall opposite to the door were portraits to the four Hokage.

The room had only one long conference style table. It had 14 chairs. The one at the end was of course reserved for the Hokage. Seven seats were on each side, each one held a clan seat. Rather each seat was meant for a clan head and two were for the non-clan civilian shinobi representatives. Currently, there were four empty seats for the clans which currently had no leader: the Uchiha, the Senju, and the Uzumaki. The fourth empty seat was the Sarutobi clan seat, which was only unfilled because Hiruzen was the Hokage. The council members ranged in age and standing, but all were Jounin level shinobi and their combined force was very difficult to match.

The Aburame clan was led by a 40-year-old jounin named Shibi. The Akimichi clan was led by Chouza, a 38-year-oldd who was a member of the last great Ino-shika-cho team. His partners were about the same age, Inoichi was the head of the Yamanaka clan and Shikaku was the head of the Nara clan. Kakashi headed the Hatake clan and at 29 he was the youngest member of the council. Hiashi Hyuga led the most powerful clan in the village right now, the Hyuga were a very large clan and almost all members were powerful ninja. Okami was the leader of the Inuzuka clan, he was one of the older leaders, but not the oldest as he was still younger than Hiruzen and Danzo. Danzo was the oldest member and was the leader of the Shimaru clan, which was one of the oldest clans in the village. The ninjas who were not affiliated with clans were democratically elected and served 5 year terms. The current representatives were Hamaki Mimura a hero of the third great war who helped the fourth Hokage in battle. The second representative was a younger representative who served as the anbu liaison as well, his name was Hayate Gekko.

"Iwagakure has declared war on Sunagakure," the Hokage made the statement with little emotion. The room filled with veteran shinobi grew tense. Iwa was an old enemy and Suna was their closest ally. This meant Konoha was close to war.

"What has the escalation been Hokage-sama?" Hiashi asked, the council was a place of brutal formality.

"Iwa has invaded the land of stone and their troops are headed in the direction of Suna." The aging Hokage wore a tired face, he had lived through far too many wars. "I have recalled Jiraiya. I have also stopped all missions which are C-rank as is protocol."

"How much aid has Suna requested?" This time it was Kakashi interjecting.

"They have asked us now, only for 3 Jounin units(a unit is a team of 5)." The Hokage relied quickly, "But I expect they will need further assistance. I believe we should engage the protocol for a minor war. Specifically the protocol accelerating the academy. Two years total." Most of the clan heads looked down sadly, their children or grandchildren were in the academy.

The protocol for a minor war was to prepare for a major war. That means that they would attempt to first maximize the number of troops available and then increase the amount of training they would receive. Beyond that it was to minimize the amount of ninja leaving the village, that was completed by stopping C-rank mission which did not make the village that much money. But that was not all, border security was vital in addition to village security. Chunin would be stationed to patrol the borders of the land of fire, which was a vast territory. Jounin guards would be assigned to members of the royal family.

"Hokage-sama, in addition to the minor war protocol may I suggest an overreaction. Iwa has no allies at the moment. I suggest we send 8 Jounin units to Suna and suggest that they meet Iwa with a display of force at the border with the Land of Stone." Shikaku spoke with a lazy and annoyed voice that typically meant he was thinking hard.

"At this point it seems Iwa simply wishes to take land from the Land of Stone and the Land of Wind, probably at the behest of the Earth Daimyo." The Hokage responded, "I can agree with that position Shikaku, I assume you can organize the teams as Jounin commander." Shikaku nodded. "As for the academy students, let them enjoy themselves for two weeks, then they will begin the advanced accelerated training. We are now at war."


	2. Chapter 2

AN/ First off I want to say thank you to everyone who read the story, favorited the story, or followed the story. I would really appreciate some reviews, especially ones that tell me what i do well, or not so well. I do appreciate the short reviews I received last chapter, but they do not help me too much. Anyway, this chapter went a little differently plot wise then I had planned, but it should still be okay. Give me a little while for the next chapter. A LOT will happen in the next chapter, crazy story defining fun stuff, that you *hopefully *won't expect even after reading this chapter. In fact, if you can manage to guess what I'll be doing third chapter I will put you into the Chunin exams as a character.

Much had changed over the course of the year. The war had scared many parents, many civilians had withdrawn their children from the ninja academy. That explained all the empty seats in the room on the day of graduation. Those from shinobi clans accepted the reality of what war was, it was one of the activities ninjas participated in. For students like Naruto and Sasuke being a ninja was their destiny, nothing else would suffice in giving them happiness in life.

The students believed that today was simply graduation day, but it was more than that. In times of war a special title was awarded to the genin who could pass the elite Genin evaluation. An elite Genin could lead a team of Genin and was fast tracked to the Chunin exam. Beyond that, they had the option of joining chunin teams for a mission on occasion. Only certain Genin, typically the top three members of the class, were offered the opportunity to complete the examination. In the case of this class that meant Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata.

"Okay. First I would like to congratulate all of you, passing the accelerated course is not a walk in the park," former Anbu captain Mitana Shimaru was speaking. Iruka had been replaced by a more qualified instructor, he was also needed in the shinobi forces. All active duty shinobi were moved to combat roles during war times. Retired shinobi were called back into service for things like teaching. "Today is also the day when the elite Genin examination will be held. The test is simple, fight me. You will do so to the best of your ability. It will decide if you earn the title elite Genin. Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata; please follow me." The Genin did as they were told, their classmates would pass the time talking amongst themselves in the classroom. Most of them though would rather this occur after everyone graduated. 

The three Genin followed their sensei down a set of stairs they did not know existed. They eventually came to a door. Inside was a room, a sort of dojo. The room included an arena for sparring and a table. At the table sat the Hokage, the academy director, and the Genin commander. None of them smiled at the Genin and hardly even seemed to recognize their presence. This was all business. Mitana spoke to them again.

"Okay, Naruto you'll be going first. I want you to fight me as hard as you possibly can. We will have 2 minutes in total. I will be fighting at the level of a mid-ranked chunin," The man smiled at the boy indicating he would be fine. Even the old Anbu man had been softened by these kids. He loved teaching and this class was special, he could just feel it. He motioned to the other two candidates to sit in the chairs next to the table. Naruto followed him into the arena. They took their starting positions.

"Begin," the word came from the academy director without much warning. Naruto began to fight with no hesitation.

"Poison style: toxic bubble barrage," Naruto screamed as he completed the final hand sign. He had decided to start with one of his most powerful jutsu. Kakashi had continued to teach him over the course of the year. The man really did know over a thousand jutsu, and naruto must have made poison variants for over a dozen. Out of Naruto's mouth came a hundred or so bubbles, all the size of baseballs. Each of the bubbles seemed to take their own position in the air space of the arena. It was almost a mine field. A touch of Naruto's poison could cause necrosis of the skin. Ingesting it would make you violently ill fairly quickly. If it mixed with your own chakra it would poison you from the inside out. That being said the skin and ingestion effects were fairly short lasting, the chakra poisoning took some time.

"Wind Style: Gale Palm" the old jounin pushed his palm forward, it sent a gust of wind chakra forward popping most of the bubbles. Mitana was not taking any chances. After he popped the bubbles he went on the offensive. "Wind Style: swift kunai," he shouted as he sent a barrage of kunai at Naruto. This chakra manipulation was fairly low level, he was simply throwing kunai and channeling wind chakra into them. Naruto jumped quickly to avoid the kunai, he then pulled out one of his own.

"Poison Style: Poison dagger," he sent forward a kunai laced with poison but that was simply a diversion. "Poison Style: Spike," he said strongly directing his chakra with his voice. As Mitana dodged the Kunai he heard Naruto declare the new jutsu. He realized he had dodged the Kunai and moved into the thin sheet of poison fluid covering the floor from Naruto's bubbles. He moved out of the way just barely in time. The spike that rose out of the puddle scratched his arm. It hurt immensely, he grabbed his arm in pain. Naruto made his move. He made a familiar hand sign and five shadow clones came into existence. All of them began a long series of hand signs, this jutsu had become Naruto's Signature as it melded so well with the poison chakra he wielded. "Poison Style: Great Shark Bullet," Naruto and his clones said in nearly perfect unison. Globs of poison chakra poured out of their mouths and shaped into a shark. The shark bullet directed itself toward Mitana. In such a small space Mitana could hardly dodge, the shark came at him at full speed. Naruto was also controlling its direction. Luckily for Mitana he was not a chunin in actuality and he could save himself.

"Earth Style: Earth Wall," the jounin used the powerful jutsu to erect a large earthen wall. Naruto's shark could not avoid the wall and it crashed in dissipating the poison. Naruto's ninjutsu was in effect jounin rank, he was not the most well-rounded mind you. Mitana called the match to a halt, stating that he had used a jounin level technique that a chunin simply could not have mustered. Naruto's jutsu would have seriously harmed if not killed a chunin ninja, even some jounin from minor villages would have had a hard time. Naruto did need serious work on physical attributes and taijutsu. Kakashi had allowed him to improve greatly but his Taijutsu was just low chunin and his physical conditioning was on the more mid-range for chunin. Like his teacher, he was dependent on powerful ninjutsu. Unlike his teacher he had gigantic chakra reserves which allowed him to engage in almost endless jutsu onslaughts.

The following two fights were not nearly as spectacular. Sasuke knew about a dozen fire style jutsu, he had access to a multitude of fire jutsu from his clan library. Some of them could only be accessed after an Uchiha could activate their Sharingan. Sasuke did not 'win' his fight, but he put on a good display of his roundedness. He was a better all around shinobi than Naruto was. He was at a high level in physical training and taijutsu, he also had a very good handle on genjutsu. Mitana was very happy with his young student, he was sure Sasuke would pass the elite Genin exam. He had showcased several jutsu including, but not limited to (sorry I had to); 'fire style: phoenix flower jutsu', 'Fire Release: Hiding in Fire Technique', 'Demonic Illusion: Mirage Crow', and 'Demonic Illusion: Sinner's Desire'.

Sasuke was disappointed with his performance in comparison to that of Naruto. That being said the Genin was proud of himself, he had worked hard and he found himself to be at the level of a low chunin. He was obviously not close to his brother, but he was on his way to matching where Itachi had been. It was a long path to Hokage to a restored Uchiha clan, but he would walk it.

Hinata fared slightly better than Sasuke but it was only because she relied on one thing and had been able to execute it well. She wanted nothing more than to impress her father, she knew that gaining the elite Genin would do far more than that. Her father had made her training more difficult, but he was also much nicer. Hinata suspected that the cold-hearted man truly feared the possible loss of his daughter to the war. Because of more intense training with a slightly kinder hand she had been able to advance her Jyuken fairly far. Mitana was not an experienced taijutsu fighter and while he would have had no trouble taking a Hyuga in combat he was playing the role of a combat chunin thinking with his adrenaline. The 'eight trigrams: vacuum palm' had done more damage than he expected as Hinata had been able to direct it very well. She had also managed to complete 'eight trigrams: thirty palms' during the combat simulation. She had been able to disable him for the most part. Mitana during the exercise, as he had with all of them, decided to test her limits. He stepped up his level of combat and took Hinata's ability to use the juken. She had reacted well, launching one of the few ninjutsu she knew at the shinobi. As she did that time was called and the match came to a close with Hinata smiling widely.

The Hokage watched the last match with a sorrowful smile. These three represented another generation which would know war. He saw it as a failure of his own leadership. He hated that these children would be robbed of even one moment of their childhood, but it was the reality of what being a ninja truly was. He smiled because he was proud of these three, they had become superb ninja at a young age. He swallowed to clear his throat before he spoke to them.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuga," the two of the three who had been sitting jumped up to stand at attention. The three ninja beamed at the aging Hokage, slightly tired, they were proud of their performance. "While it is highly unusual for this to occur, I have decided to award the status of elite genin to all three of you. You have all impressed me. That is not to say you can stop working. You all have a long way to go." The Hokage made his announcement without consulting the other two members on the panel.

"Yataa!" Naruto screamed old habits die hard.

The Genin were led away by Mitana, they made it back to the room. It was announced that they had all passed and then headbands were awarded. All three of the elite Genin received a special version of the standard leaf headband. Instead of the standard stainless steel plate they received a matte black plate with the standard village symbol carved in. They all wore their special headbands with great pride, they took their seats as they awaited their sensei to announce the team assignments. The team assignments were made independent of the elite Genin selection.

"Team 7 will be led by Kakashi Hatake," Naruto gave an anxious smile at the mention of the man who was already his sensei. He wanted nothing more than for his father's student to teach him. "And it will be made up of Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno." The boy smiled wide, he was surprised he and Sasuke were on the same team. He suspected it had to do with the Hokage and the Sharingan. "Team 8 will include Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame." Hinata had known Kurenai for some time and was happy to have her as a sensei, of course, she was disappointed not to be on the same team as Naruto and Sasuke. She thought, from what she had just seen, that the three would have made a powerful group. "Team 10 is made up of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and is led by Asuma Sarutobi" With that Mitana addressed the class about the progress they had made, he wished them all luck with their shinobi careers. He left the room and as he did the Jounin sensei came to collect their teams. There were only five this year.

Naruto saw Kakashi and moved toward him as did the rest of the team, following Naruto's lead. They were told to meet the Jounin upstairs, he disappeared in a quick shunshin. They managed to make their way up pretty quickly. Kakashi stood to wait for them, he was turned facing toward the village.

"Took you long enough," he said, turning around and giving Naruto an eye smile. The Uzumaki boy simply shook his head at his sensei. This was an obvious attempt to antagonize the three of them, make himself the enemy. It should have been obvious, at least.

"We came as fast as we could Kakashi-sensei." Sakura was already concerned with gaining the favor of her new sensei. She had thrived in the academy mainly due to her work ethic, when it came to academics, and her ability to get teachers to like her. Naruto simply wished she wasn't so loud, and that her adoration of Sasuke wasn't so obnoxious.

"Na-na. We should start by introducing ourselves," Kakashi let the statement hang hoping someone would jump in. Naruto was not doing the jounin any favors and was letting him handle the new Genin team.

"Um, Sensei, can you go first so we know what to do?" Kakashi hadn't expected the 'smartest' female shinobi to be quite this daft. Did she really not know how to properly introduce herself? He shook it off and decided to have some fun with his three new Genin.

"I am Kakashi Hatake. I like some things, I dislike other things. As for hobbies, I occasionally do things. My dreams are my own," the veteran shinobi told the three almost nothing about himself. Sakura seemed frazzled, the academy teachers were always very kind and forthcoming. She felt that she was being made fun of.

" I'll go next. I am Naruto Uzumaki. I really like learning new ninja skills and meeting new people," Naruto began. It wasn't that simple, 'I really only like meeting new people who don't hate my very existence.' the jinchuuriki thought to himself sadly. "I dislike ignorance and also writing long essays. My hobbies include ninja training and not much else, but I do garden fairly often now. My dream is to learn about my clan and establish myself as a great ninja, and finally to become Hokage," Naruto had become much more articulate over the course of the last year. Kakashi smiled at the boy who he was sure would become an amazing ninja, just as his father before him. Sasuke eyed Naruto for a different reason. The two were rivals, they had the same dream. Both of them could not achieve it.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha. I like being a ninja, I dislike fan girls," he mentioned that hoping Sakura would take a hint. Unfortunately, fangirls never identified themselves as a member of that group. "And death. My hobbies are training and cooking. My ambition is to restore my clan and become Hokage." Sasuke was less excited in his proclamation, it was almost delivered in a threatening tone.

Kakashi realized his job would not be simple. Preparing two of the ninja of the leaf who actually had a chance at being Hokage and both of them had the ambition as well. 'They'll probably end up killing each other for the job' he mused jokingly. Last to go through the introduction was the only person who was not a ninja by blood.

"I'm Sakura Haruno. I enjoy relaxing with my friends and spending time with my family. I dislike Ino Yamanaka more than anything else. My hobbies involve," she glanced at Sasuke and never finished the sentence. "I dream of getting married and having a family." Kakashi was utterly disappointed. She disliked a fellow shinobi of the leaf. That was her largest qualm. Naruto disliked those who hated him for no reason and Sasuke disliked death because of his tremendous loss. It was not that Sakura should also have gone through these things, rather Kakashi believed that the girl would be in for a rude awakening upon her involvement in the shinobi world. He stopped thinking for a while before he spoke to his group.

"Normally I'd give you a test, but I think you guys have what it takes. We will begin training tomorrow. Know that since I won't be giving you a test you are all on probation. I won't hesitate to send you back to the academy," The only one who wasn't exactly concerned with the threat was Sakura as she thrived in the academy. She had slipped slightly during the accelerated year, but it had not been so bad.

Kakashi disappeared in another cloud of dust and leaves. The Genin had no idea where he had gone so quickly without saying goodbye, only the Hokage knew why Kakashi was always late, and where he spent most of his free time. He traveled to the monument of heroes. He stared at the names of the lost ninja, the names of family and friends. It was unhealthy, but Kakashi lived with it. Death was a part of him, he owed a good deal of his skill to the death of a friend.

The three Genin went their separate ways. Sakura's was toward the civilian sector. Her mom was a banker who had a significant impact on civilian politics. Her father had been a ninja, but he retired early. The lifestyle was not for him. Now he owned his own shop in the commerce district. He sold shoes. Her family was not one of the wealthiest in Konoha, but they were by no means poor. They were very well off, but the civilians in Konoha were an underclass, that is why their daughter was becoming a ninja.

Sakura was, for this reason, very proud of herself. She was certain that her parents would reward her nicely for officially being a member of the shinobi corps. She would leave out the detail of her probation when she told them. Sakura smiled widely at all the people in the civilian district. At this time in the afternoon the district was bustling, people were working and buying goods at the variety of stores open. Everyone was simply enjoying what was shaping up to be a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky or a care in the world.

…

In the same secret council room the Hokage met with his shinobi. He had just received very important news. The war was over.

"As of today, Iwa has signed a treaty with Suna. They seem content with what they have already gained," The Hokage understood why they were content. They had changed the map of the ninja world, even if it was only slightly. Now, Iwa and Suna shared a border. "Iwa, and by extension the land of earth, has partitioned the Land of Stone. This means it now shares a land border with Suna." Shikaku was one of the many council members visibly concerned with this prospect. This war may have ended but it was certain that hostilities would be high for some time. It meant that the world had just gained that much more tension.

"I assume we will maintain our current state of a minor war then?" It was Kakashi who spoke, many seemed slightly confused. The Hokage had just announced the end of the war. The more politically savvy members of the council understood why they would continue the state.

"That is correct Kakashi. We do not know what could happen. One escalation means war, especially now that there is no buffer. We must ensure that our military standards are upheld, that we are truly prepared for a war," After the Hokage finished speaking some people in the room simply hung their heads. Others stared forward, with eyes that were stained with blood and death already. They understood far too well what the future would entail. "The end of the war is not all the news I have for you. There will soon be another chunin exam," the Hokage gave pause, he knew rather than waiting for answers some of the more vocal shinobi would ask questions. This was especially true because it was likely the children, or grandchildren of these ninjas would be participating.

"Where will the exams be held?" The voice came from an unexpected, but familiar source to Hiruzen. It was Okami, he likely believed his grandson would be participating in the exams.

"It will be held in a site as neutral as possible. The land of Iron. All the major villages are allowed to field only two teams," The Hokage knew the group understood what was actually happening. This was a test, a war game, it was commonly known in history as a Grand Tournament. It meant Konoha had to select its most promising Genin teams for competition, but also they had to project the power of their clans. This was no simple task.

"Hokage-Sama, which teams have you selected?" Kakashi spoke again, he hoped his team would be selected. Naruto was perhaps the top Genin in the village thanks to a single year of Kakashi's personal tutelage. The only issue was Sakura. She was not up to par, it was not uncommon for teams to be rearranged in the face of a Grand Competition.

"I have already decided. We must rearrange the teams, unfortunately. We have only 1 year for the students to prepare for this exam. I took the time to look into all of the teams we have available and I believe I have the correct formations," the Hokage could be wrong, he usually wasn't. The god of shinobi was nicknamed that for a reason, his military strategy was one of those reasons. "The first team will be trained by Kakashi Hatake, the team will include Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Hana Inuzuka."

Okami was surprised that Hana was chosen, but he was also proud. His granddaughter had not been able to truly compete in the last exam because she had the misfortune of landing on a poor team. She was 14 and was very much at the level of any chunin that he knew.

"The other team will be led by Maito Gai. It will be composed of Neji Hyuga, Hinata Hyuga, and Rock Lee," the Hokage knew that these team selections would be very controversial. He knew certainly that Kakashi and Gai were the correct Jounin to send. The projection of strength was not limited to the genin teams. It also involves the Jounin sensei and without a doubt, Gai and Kakashi were the most well-known and most powerful jounin. It would do Konoha well to show that they were leading Genin of their own now.

"If I may ask Hokage-sama," he waited and received a nod from the old man, Hiashi was always formal. "Why place Neji and Hinata on the same team?" Hiashi did not see the point in sending two Hyuga, and also sending two on the same team. That being said he was glad to see his daughter and nephew were considered to be among the best genin Konoha had to offer. Hiruzen was glad Hiashi asked, this would give the man the chance to explain himself more fully.

"I want to send two Hyuga because the Hyuga clan is now the pride of Konoha. With the Uchiha gone we have but two clans with bloodlines which are well formed. The Hyuga and the Aburame. The Aburame is a rather small clan and there are only a couple available Genin," Shibi Aburame nodded his head in understanding, both of the Aburame Genin were relatively fresh. His son showed promise but was not ready for such a test. "It is important that we show the Hyuga clan has depth. As for why Naruto and Sasuke are going, Naruto is the only known holder of his bloodline and we should demonstrate its power on this stage. It would be great if he could activate the remaining portion of his bloodline in the coming months. As for Sasuke, we must that the Uchiha "will" exists still in Konoha." Really no one could argue with the logic for the four bloodline users, but then what about the other two. "Hana Inuzuka as far as I am concerned is one of our best Genin and it is about time she becomes a chunin. She also has three ninken, it demonstrates that our clans are ever-evolving. We are not the same and they don't know everything. The same goes for Lee, a very strong ninja who can only use taijutsu and Gai has assured me that he can more than deal with the average low-level chunin." Okami beamed at the Hokage's praise of his granddaughter.

"Vey well Hokage-sama, I will inform my team of the changes tomorrow and train them to the best of my ability," Kakashi made this statement in the same tone he used in his past days as an Anbu captain.

After he was done speaking there was a mild shaking. The entire room moved slightly. It was not uncommon in the region for a slight earthquake, this seemed softer and shorter, however.

…

Sakura could not believe what she was saying. Her home, the apartments, the bank, her father's store. It seemed like the entire district was up in flames. So many explosions had hit almost at once, they shook the very earth she walked on. Sakura ran inside of the bank, it was the building nearest to her. The interior had been pretty much destroyed. She had to crawl under and over various beams and pieces of the ceiling. She was moving almost on automatic, she had to find her mother. She was most likely in her office, hopefully, her part of the building had been less affected. Sakura ran inside the office, she found her mother. She found her body. It was burning. Sakura began to cry, she tried still to take her mother's body. She put out the fire on her clothes using a canteen of water her mother had on her desk. As she was doing this something tragic happened. The entry way she had come through collapsed. Sakura's scream joined with so many others in the civilian district at the moment.

…

Anbu managed to put out the fires fairly quickly with large scale water jutsu. The damage was done, that day, in under twenty minutes almost a third of Konoha's civilian population died. It was still uncertain who planted the bombs. None of that mattered. The entire village attended the memorial service which was held two days later. It was very similar to the memorial for the Uchiha clan. Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto stood next to each other. Sakura had been the only civilian casualty. She had not managed to save anyone, but she tried. She was placed alongside the names of all the other ninja who died serving their village. Kakashi shed a tear that day, he had not done so since the death of Minato 11 years previously. He had lost his student and now he had to prepare two others for war. The ninja world was not simply unfair it seemed purposefully cruel.

They did not train for a week Kakashi allowed the two Genin time to mourn. Sasuke and Naruto were not Sakura's biggest fans, but she had been their teammate even if it was for a short time. Naruto was taking it harder than Sasuke who had been through much more difficult loss before. Naruto had decided that he would now certainly become Hokage and that he would find a way to ensure his village was protected, the task seemed more daunting than ever if such an event was possible under the current Hokage. Naruto had a lot of work to do.

…

It was time to resume training one week later, with Hana. They went through the same introductions they had a week and three days earlier. Kakashi explained to them their mission and the importance of them taking this seriously. He did not have to do much convincing. All three of them were honored.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu," Kakashi said calmly. He created two additional copies of himself. Each of them had much to improve individually before they were concerned about the team aspect. So Kakashi split them up to train.

…

Naruto found himself at training ground nine with the actual Kakashi, at least he believed it was the actual Kakashi.

"Naruto, in the past I told you to avoid overtraining with shadow clones. After consulting with the Hokage he believes we should be using the technique more," At that Naruto had half a mind to throw a party. His improvement would be much more rapid if he could create more clones. "First take this sword," Kakashi handed Naruto a katana, unbeknownst to Naruto it had belonged to Kushina Uzumaki. "How many shadow clones can you make?" Kakashi asked.

"I can make 940 and not be totally exhausted," Naruto said with a smile, he had done quite a bit of experimenting over the last year. The boy really enjoyed testing his absolute limits.

"In that case, I want you to create 500 clones," Naruto would be able to train five hundred times faster than the average person. He could in 2 months accomplish over 80 years of training. "One hundred will be working on that Katana I just gave you, I think you need a backup weapon. One hundred will be working on chakra control exercises, the advanced ones we had begun right before you graduated. Then one hundred will be with me, we'll work on four jutsu at a time see what poison style creations we can come up with. The last one hundred will be studying, history of the elemental nations, knowledge of each of the villages. The best way to beat your enemy is to know them well." 

Naruto simply did as he was told. He believed that his sensei knew best. He was excited to be learning more rest of Naruto clones went on their way. Eventually in the main clearing was just Kakashi, Naruto, and one hundred Naruto clones. In this type of exercise one clone would be dispelled every 10 minutes. This meant the other clones would gain that information and be able to learn more. Naruto would create new clones every one hour or so and this would ensure the maximum efficiency in training.

Without a word, Kakashi began performing a jutsu. The Naruto's followed along as best they could. They were learning after all. After five or so hand signs Kakashi performed the jutsu.

"Earth Style: Maximum Minefield," In Kakashi's version of the jutsu Earth chakra based mines would be formed. Naruto too completed the jutsu, his variation was incredible. Each mine was effectively a geyser of poison chakra waiting for contact. This jutsu was one that allowed for an immensely advantageous field of battle. After some time of learning to increase the number of mines and changing the locations and densities, they moved on.

"Next we have a more offensive jutsu," Kakashi held up the sign of the dragon to his mouth and said words that described a truly incredible jutsu. "Fire Style: The Annihilation of Life," the jutsu allowed a huge white flame to emerge from Kakashi's mouth it simply destroyed everything in its path. It left a dusted destroyed landscape in its wake. Naruto repeated the jutsu as he had seen it. He was careful as to the amount of chakra he placed in the jutsu as it seemed extraordinarily powerful.

"Poison Style: The Annihilation of Life," spewing out of Naruto's mouth was a black gas that was thick. It passed through an area before eventually dissipating it was so toxic that it would destroy anything it touched. That did not mean good things for Naruto. Most of his clones had dispelled in the act of performing it. The original Naruto was now coughing very intensely, he was coughing up blood and he was in an extreme amount of pain. He laid on the floor grabbing at his chest having extreme trouble breathing. Kakashi immediately called over for Hana. 

Hana had spent some time training to be a medical ninja. She simply did not want to completely specialize. She wanted to do both. Hana approached Naruto and examined him. She definitely had a light crush on the boy, but it was mostly due to his goofiness and his power. From what she had seen he could go from clueless to thoughtful, from clumsy to agile. He was a clown and a shinobi. She was also simply impressed with his ability, he was accomplishing feats most ninja will never dream of achieving. While he was likely not at the top yet he easily had the potential to be one of the best genin in the entire shinobi world.

For now, though he had been chemically burned on the inside of his lungs and respiratory tract. She performed the mystical palm technique and was able to help him a great deal. She finished with her part-time shot him a smile and went back to her own training. Naruto and Kakashi began discussing the jutsu right away.

"Naruto that jutsu seemed different," Naruto could only nod his head at his sensei's words. His sensei tilted his head and raised an eyebrow, as he raised his hand to his face he called out the name of his jutsu.

"Hatake Style: Thinking," His student was baffled and looked on coughing slightly. But he would be even more confused when his sensei finished thinking. "Naruto, channel chakra into your eyes." He gave the command wondering what this meant for Naruto. He, of course, looked away from the boy's eyes opting instead to look at them from a mirror. Kakashi knew the abilities of the Ishigan from fighting alongside Kushina in the Third Great Shinobi War. She was truly mighty with the eye, she could turn people to stone for upwards of two hours this was at great cost to her.

"Okay sensei!" Naruto said with a mild excitement. He did as he was told and he knew instantly he had the eyes. The vision was trademark, more vivid colors and higher contrast levels, and the ability to better track (and eventually predict) movements of the smallest order. That was not all. He could turn people to stone.

"Naruto, do you know how to use your eyes' active ability?" Kakashi asked his student, wondering how much the boy could know. He had never met another person who possessed this eye. All of them were dead.

"Yes, Sensei. Unfortunately, I don't gain the stone turning ability for a while, according to what I've read," Kakashi himself had not been aware of that before Naruto told him.

"Maybe it's for the best; do you know the drawbacks of that skill?" Naruto shook his head immediately, it made sense that his clan would no sooner right all skills of the eye than they would write a single flaw of the eye. Kakashi perked up at getting to teach Naruto something about his sensei's wife. It made him feel closer to all of them. "Well, of course, I'll advise you not to share this with people who you do not trust. The flaws of the Ishigan's stone ability is two-fold. The first problem with the eye comes from having it activated or using the active effect excessively. Your mother once mentioned to me that if she had left her eyes on at all times other than when she slept she would be completely blind by the age of 40."

"I guess I'll have to be careful. I would say that means I can't use my eyes for more than 5 hours a day for the rest of my life. If I want to keep seeing for that long. I also can't use the stone move that often." He truly understood why it was so few who became masters of the art, the threat of blindness is terrifying even in the pursuit of all powerful jutsu.

"The second one is also sort of important. If someone else destroys something you turn to stone one of your eyes may turn to stone permanently," Kakashi did not speak further instead he waited for Naruto to ask the obvious question.

"What do you mean may?" the boy blurted out loudly. It was fair, how could something so important be so uncertain.

"Well apparently it has not occurred in over eighty years," Kakashi saw the look of amazement on Naruto's face. "Naruto have you read anything about gaining stronger poison when you awaken the eye?"

"Sort of," Kakashi was surely puzzled by Naruto's beginning. "The original bloodline does not have this ability. Instead, it was a semi-common mutation among my clansmen. I am now able to produce a more toxic poison, but it is damaging even to me. It is also the reason I activated the eye. People with the mutations activate their eyes early now that I recall. At first, I was just so confused, I wasn't thinking straight." Naruto had spent quite a bit of time researching his clan and he had a very good grasp on its history at this point. That said there was much he would never learn, much of the history and knowledge pertaining to his clan had died with them.

"Hmm...I haven't heard of another bloodline that effectively has two variations. Some of them have levels, but not like this," Kakashi thought again for a moment. "For now Naruto avoid using the special poison. I'm going to try to figure out the best way to train you for this. Feel free to do your own homework as well." Kakashi felt that self-sufficiency was a key aspect of ninja life. He really wanted to ensure it was something his students also valued.

"Sounds like a plan to me sensei!" the still pre-pubescent exclaimed. He had been trained as a killer, but it was impossible to miss the parts of him which undoubtedly belonged to a child.

…

A Few Weeks Into Their Training

Hana had not been as strong as Sasuke and Naruto when she had been their age. She was, however, the most combat ready of Kakashi's three Genin. She wasn't even as powerful as Naruto was at the moment, but she had one thing on her side experience. That wasn't a pass to victory in most cases though. The problem with students who weren't Naruto is that they simply could not train as fast. Hana had been working on what Kakashi called "the basics" for some time now.

The idea of these "basics" had been attributed back to the third Hokage. He believed that there were basic skills which were necessary for each level of a ninja. He had shared these teachings with all his students, and they, in turn, did the same. Kakashi had gotten this information the Yondaime by way of Jiraiya. Hana was not the most naturally gifted ninja, she was of course from a clan and was an heir. Her chakra reserves were not on par with Naruto and Sasuke and she wasn't the strongest. She did have an excellent range of clan jutsu, she was excellent in collaboration with her dogs, but she'd be even better if she could be better on her own. The dogs did physical training and Hana found herself throwing Kunai at targets.

The first element of the basics of the elite chunin ninja was accuracy. Moving accuracy. Kakashi was thankful for having Naruto as a student in this way as well. Naruto clones were at the moment running around a small section of the forest with targets. Everytime Hana saw a target she was to throw a kunai at it for this part of the training. She was obviously aiming for the bullseye. For the elite chunin basics hitting the target wasn't enough. One had to be able to hit the bullseye of a moving target at varying ranges missing no more than 5 times out of 50. Hana was now only missing the bullseye 11 times out of 50.

That wasn't all of the basics. The same accuracy skill had to be managed with a shuriken. Beyond that were the other 4 principles of the basics she had yet to even begin. Control, Strength, Endurance and the Intangible. Kakashi had laid out the essential training to her.

She would need to be able to maintain chakra control at a high level for hours. She was going to have to maintain walking on very very rough water for more than three hours. Never falling below the surface. This also contributed to agility training. That was not it of course for control, it meant more than chakra. Agility was also crucial. She would have to be able to go from tree to ground to tree one hundred times without falling and doing so at top speed.

Strength was simply daunting, she would train with boulders in Konoha's Training ground 18. There were numerous boulders of various size and weight that you could use to train strength by pushing. You hadn't really mastered one level of the boulder until you could push it for a quarter mile uphill in a relatively brief time. The third Hokage considered the appropriately sized rock for the chunin to be around 400 pounds or so. That number varied depending on the style of ninja.

Endurance was a terrifying test. She would simply have to run. She had technically begun that part but she was not even close to the benchmark set. Right now Kakashi had her running twenty miles a day at full speed. He claimed that she would be able to run thirty-five miles at top speed by the time of the exams, but that seemed ludicrous to her.

Intangibles were the Hokage's way of identifying what a ninja had a propensity for and making them work extremely hard at it. This was in an effort to differentiate ninja and maximize individual potential. That being said Kakashi was least concerned with it. If he could make Hana better at the other four her techniques would improve greatly. That being said at some point Kakashi would work on intangibles with Hana. He had asked the Hokage to designate him as the leader of a special Chunin team should the group pass. Kakashi was a bit of a jutsu savant and he had many ideas that he and Hana could work with in the pursuit of original jutsu.

…

Sasuke's training was different than Hana. The Uchiha as a whole were good with two things especially: speed and nin and genjutsu. While Kakashi knew that Sasuke would benefit greatly from the basics he had also been at the council meeting. He knew Sasuke was in part there to demonstrate the Uchiha clan's remaining ability. That meant Sasuke needed to be the best Uchiha he could be. Kakashi had a training plan for after the exams which put focus into the things they were neglecting now. While the things they were neglecting were a lot it did not mean that Sasuke was not becoming more powerful through the hours of training he was participating in.

Kakashi was effectively running a jutsu learning boot camp. Sasuke was learning every fire and lightning type jutsu he could. At this pace he was mastering three jutsu every week, that would, of course, slow down as the jutsu would become more difficult. It was truly incredible, but not exactly surprising from the brother of Itachi Uchiha. As soon as Sasuke could copy jutsu Kakashi thought the number would soar to mastering more than twenty jutsu or so on a monthly basis.

Speed and agility training for Sasuke was slightly different for Sasuke than Hana. Kakashi had asked the Hokage on a daily basis to summon an extremely quick monkey. For an hour or two a day Sasuke would chase the monkey through the forest. It was making him faster and was pushing his ability to predict movement and see where things were going and how they moved. He had yet to catch the monkey, but Kakashi was seeing him improve.

…

Kakashi was looking down on the students he trained from a hill that looked over most of the major Konoha training areas. He was slightly dismayed, but on the outside he simply looked perplexed. He was so focused, lost in thought, he missed the man walking up behind him.

"Hello Kakashi, how is their training going?" the voice belonged to the third Hokage, Kakashi had been shocked at the presence of another person, but relaxed upon realizing who it was.

"It's going well. They all seem focused and willing to put in the work," the jounin held back his concerns. He did not want to burden the Hokage with issues he should be able to solve.

"Anything the matter?" the Hokage asked of the ninja. At this point it was more of a command to let him know the issue. Kakashi knew why of course, this team would mean a lot in the coming months. They would directly influence how the other nations viewed Konoha.

"They really seem to like each other, but there is also some rivalry and animosity underneath. I think they've both identified each other as obstacles toward becoming Hokage," Kakashi spilled his thoughts on the matter to the Hokage. The man was looking down on the training grounds, his stare seemed to be looking back several decades. He was thinking back to two other promising ninjas who began much in the same way.

"There is nothing you can do Kakashi. Both of these boys have the same dream, chances are that only one will be able to accomplish it. All you can do is strengthen their bond to the village and hopefully through their time together they'll become friends," it was not the answer Kakashi was looking for. He accepted the words of the old master with a simple nod. The two of them stood there. They were two of five shinobi in the village now who could trace their master back to the first Hokage, yet even they had not mastered the will of fire.

…

Kakashi and his three students met with The Professor, also known as Hiruzen Sarutobi. The three younger ninja were nervous about why they were meeting with the Hokage. They had been training for four months without complaining, but the Hokage knew and Kakashi knew that they were itching for a mission. Ninja, especially young ninja, are as vain as any group of people. The three of them wanted to be out there collecting stories of battle and beating their enemies with newly learned skill. They were all much more powerful, but they still had a long way to go before the exam.

"I asked you all here today because I have a mission for you. Kakashi is needed for another mission and will be unable to teach you for a short while. So we picked now for your first solo mission. It'll be a c-ranked. Consider it your first assessment on the road to the Chunin exams." The Genin were all smiling at the words spoken just then. They all thanked the Hokage, profusely, eventually leading to an apology from Kakashi for his student's antics. It was comical.

Kakashi's students followed him back to their normal meeting spot. The area in front of the fallen ninja memorial. It was always gloomy, but Kakashi said it kept them in touch with the reality of their world. They all took their typical seats and Kakashi stood in front of them. His eye peeking into the folder offered to him by the Hokage.

"Now for some mildly serious business," they all straightened up and looked on at their sensei intently. "I'll be giving you guys all the info you need for the mission after I go over it with you. The first thing you need to be aware of is what the mission is. You guys are taking the nephew of the Lord of Fire to the River Country. He will be meeting with a cousin of his who happens to be the son of the earth Daimyo. It should be about two or three weeks both ways. You leave in two days. That's the gist." Kakashi knew they couldn't do much with this info, but they should be able to identify potential issues.

"So we will come into contact with Iwa ninja?" Naruto asked. He had never met someone from another great village before, let alone shinobi.

"Yes, but they will not be combatants. You will not combat them. Also I have one warning to you before I give you the file for you guys to go over. If you end up engaging an Iwa shinobi, and not in the defense of the fire lord's' nephew, don't come back. You'll be killed. What he said was of course going against the general idea of being a loyal shinobi, but he would not let his students become pawns in a war game. With the solemn and stern warning, he said his goodbyes and poofed away in a storm of leaves and dust.

The three ninja sat around each other; they were very much concerned about what their sensei had said. They, however, had a mission to complete and nothing would stop him. The three of them quickly organized into their roles. Some would secure maps and plan routes, others would secure their rations, etc.

The new team 7 was about to engage in their first true challenge as ninja. Little did they realize they were no longer Genin truly. This mission was mid-level C-rank of high importance. The village could not send jounin as it would stir concern during the entire meeting. So instead the Hokage sent a few new Genin, that had all the abilities of a solid chunin, and in some regards were very lethal.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This isn't a chapter that is as long as the other two, but I wanted to write something for everyone following. While I certainly appreciate the reviews I have received It would be great to get some longer ones with more detailed criticism. Also Britjam0723 is probably the main reason I didnt just abandon this story out of forgetfulness, so thanks for that. Anyway, enjoy.

Before he left his office, the Third Hokage enjoyed spending some time considering the future. He was this time thinking about Naruto and Sasuke, and what the future had in store for them. Both boys showed strong promise and it seemed certain they would become some of the village's strongest ninja. He had little doubt that someday one of them would take the title and seat, unfortunately, it would likely not be from Hiruzen himself. The Hokage gazed at a picture on his desk from a time long past. The photograph featured him, the previous Hokage, Koharu, Homura, and Danzo Shimura. It was the last name that had him concerned with the fate of the two boys who seemed to be the future. Danzo and Himself had both dreamed of wearing the hat of the Hokage, but only one of them did. The other descended into darkness and distrust. That is the bitterness which comes from a dream deferred. He had seen it twice, and both times he blamed himself. The first was of course when he was chosen over Danzo, and the second was when he chose Minato over Orochimaru. The latter one hurting much more, but neither of these outcomes was the worst thing. Even the Hokage, filled with regret, would likely agree.

One of the boys who dreamed of Hokage would find themselves distrusted and hurt, Hiruzen hoped their relationship to their rivals and to their village would be stronger. Though, in the ninja world more than any other, history tends to repeat itself. With a sigh, most likely rooted in his own uncertainty, the Hokage just sat quietly in the room. He considered how much was happening in the world, for the God of Shinobi, he seemed to have little control.

Just as the Hokage was about to depart from his office for the night there was a glow. The glow came from a drawer in his desk. It meant that he had a letter from Jiraiya. His supremely talented student had invented a seal which recorded a document in one location and materialized a copy in another. It was the safest way to keep the Kage informed, leaks were almost impossible. The person would have to be in the Hokage's office or steal the original. Jiraiya solved one end of that by incinerating the original. The Hokage's office, that speaks for itself. Hiruzen knew that it could not be good news, not this late and not by surprise. The old man picked up a piece of paper from the drawer; it was newly transcribed in his pupil's familiar handwriting.

 _Sensei_

 _I have finally found out the reality of the attacks on the civilian sector. There was a small collective of Kumo ninja in the Land of Boiling Water. I thought it was unusual so I put a couple of frogs on them. The idiots gave away everything once inside of their safe house. I killed all of them, their plans were to stay in the safe house for about two months or so before going back to Kumo. The attacks have worse inspiration then you can imagine. It seems as though the attack was a coordinated strike, planned in cooperation with Iwa. They are preparing for another war, and the target is us and Suna. My spies inside of cloud have confirmed this, which is why this correspondence has taken so long to reach you. The both of them requested the Grand Competition because they believe they can beat Konoha and Suna, they see it as an attempted blow to morale. It is the belief of my informant that they will declare war officially shortly after that. I still am unsure of their objective._

The eyes of the Hokage went wide as he read. When he was done he immediately ordered a gathering of the council. He began making his way to the chambers. But he could not help but wonder how the bombs were planted. There was a rat. There was only one thing that the Hokage felt was truly unforgivable, an assault on his village. There was be hell to pay.

"I am sorry to have called you all here this late, but this news could not wait," the old man scanned the room and ensured all of his ninja were paying attention intently. "Kumo and Iwa were responsible for the bombing, and they plan to declare war on us at some point after the Grand Competition," he finished. True silence is rare because there is always some sound, a breath, a tapping foot. But save one gasp that was the last sound before void, the Hokage was met with silence.

"I motion that this body declares war on Iwa and Kumo, not to be publically declared, but to understand the nature of our current situation," it was Okami who spoke. There was a sad undertone, the man had surely seen his share of bloodshed. He had hoped his grandchildren, and all the children of this village would avoid war for at least one generation. But that was not the case.

The motion was seconded. War was declared.

"Hidden War Protocol?" the lazy question was asked by Shikaku and the Hokage nodded.

"No more than 50% of our ninja may be out of the village at any one time. Food rationing will begin. But first, t we need to find a rat. It seems to me there must be an insider, we must find them before we engage in any wide change. If we don't then the war will begin soon, and time is obviously precious," Hiruzen Sarutobi was looking round, he knew now that the clans would search their own. The anbu would as well. The rat would be exposed by the end of the week if they were still here. Then it would be time to prepare.

The meeting was adjourned. The Hokage walked back to the Sarutobi estate. All his family was asleep, safe and sound. He rest his head on his bed, he was anxious, but confident in the ability of his village. It was only then that something occurred to him, surely a sign of his old age.

"I may have sent our greatest hopes into a potential trap. Anbu," and in an instant there was a tiger masked man standing in front of his bed. "Send a single operative to the team lead by Inuzuka Hana, they may run into trouble."

After saying his peace, he drifted off to sleep. One which was surprisingly comforting and pleasant. The Third Hokage was found in the morning, he died in his sleep. After serving as Hokage for for more than 50 year Hiruzen Sarutobi, the God of Shinobi, died. One could only hope the will of fire remained strong.

Sasuke and Naruto trailed slightly behind the main group. Hana was a little ahead with the Haimaru. In the middle of the shinobi was the traditional escort of the prince; the escort consisted of several "warriors", most of whom were simply nobles trained in martial arts. Then there were servants, and a single older advisor, along with the prince himself.

The three ninja were not accustomed to traveling at such slow speeds. It was taking some time to exit fire country. Of course there was nothing they could do, they weren't just with a client, this man could be their ultimate authority one day. They were all on their best behaviour, but they were also bored out of their minds. Naruto and Sasuke didn't speak much in the back and Hana only had her dogs to speak to.

Soon they were coming up on a clearing where they would set up camp, it was just inside the border of fire didn't want to cross into another country just as nightfall approached.

"Whoosh," a kunai flew from behind toward Naruto and Sasuke. The blunt object sailed in the air only for a short time before falling to the ground harmlessly. These were not ninja attacking, but Naruto and Sasuke turned to guard the escort as if Orochimaru was preparing an attack. Soon enough there were thirty or forty bandits coming out of the trees.

What the bandits did not know is that Hana's pups had warned the two boys with a single yip about half an hour ago. These bandits were of little to no concern so the shinobi had worked to keep the escort moving along as smoothly as possible. The bandits ran toward naruto and Sasuke with Kunai in hand. They were looking for a quick payday. Sasuke and Naruto showed them no mercy.

"Fire Style: Tendrils of Flame," Sasuke raised his hands to his mouth and emptied his lungs of air. About five tendrils of flame shot from his mouth and went toward the bandits. Burning and knocking out about half of them. Some ran away at this point, but a couple of the more confident bandits kept coming. As Sasuke's jutsu came to an end they continued to surge forward, it was Naruto's turn.

"Poison Style: Bitter Rain," Naruto ran through the handsigns which Kakashi had taught him as fast as could. The bandits, luckily, were quite slow. He had more than enough time. Naruto blew a dense cloud above his head, he tapped Sasuke's shoulder telling him to move back.

"What's that supposed to do?" another bandit yelled launching a kunai at the boys. Naruto caught the blade with his own kunai. The bandits ran forward until they were finally under the cloud.

"Activate," Naruto said calmly making the dog sign. One could almost hear the thunder, but there was none. As Naruto made the sign the cloud emptied. Rain fell from the cloud, but each droplet was Naruto's poison chakra. The bandits were surprised, it rained for maybe half a minute. The bodies of the bandits were black with necrosis, their skin was dead. So were they. The escort kept moving, Sasuke went back to incinerate the bodies.

That night camp was set up in the final clearing. The three of them sat with the prince and the other nobles around the main fire. To Naruto's quiet disgust, the servants sat alone. Sasuke had made them a fire.

"Prince Suruda, what do you think of all that's happening?" Hana asked the question.

"It is certainly troubling, my uncle and the other Daimyo are often restless, they all want more. They are often satisfied easily mind you, I don't know how long the Earth Daimyo will find the conquest of that land acceptable," the young prince sounded concerned. It seemed that he was more aware of the world than his uncle. One could only hope that was true of his generation.

"Does the Fire Daimyo have any interest in expansion?" this time it was Naruto voicing a question.

"My uncle is satisfied. Our country is the strongest, the most prosperous. My uncle values this above sheer size." Naruto nodded in response, glad that the Fire Lord seemed at least sort of intelligent.

The discussion continued for some time. It was quite enjoyable, it was a meeting of the next generation really.

The next morning they all woke up and began on their journey again in slightly different formation. Now it was Naruto and Hana in the rear with Sasuke in the front.

Naruto found himself mostly petting the Haimaru and smiling widely whenever Hana laughed at his antics with the dogs. The two of them knew each other fairly well, Naruto had spent a fair amount of time with Kiba during his last year at the meant he was familiar with Hana as well.

"Hana, what happened during your chunin exams?" the inflection in his voice hinted his curiosity. He was certain that Hana was strong enough to be a chunin.

"My team just wasn't the strongest, the first couple stages are team based typically. We just weren't there as a team," she really was disappointed she was not a chunin yet.

"Well I'm positive we'll pull it off. Especially with you leading us," borrowing a move from their sensei he gave her an eye smile.

Hana shook her head at the boys but there was just a tinge of red on her cheeks.

"It's too bad that only two teams get to compete," Hana thought about whether her brother would be at chunin level at that point. Time was moving fast. Kiba wasn't as strong as Naruto or Sasuke, but he wasn't a pushover.

"Yeah, if tensions build further, take a turn for the worst, there won't be a chunin exam if that happens. A lot of war promotions," Naruto comment darkened what had been a fairly playful conversation. It wasn't too troubling.

"Yeah. Most of the Hokage made their names in a war. This could be where either Sasuke himself ahead of you," Hana laughed as she said the last part, knowing Naruto would not take kindly to such a push.

"I don't know if that's true. I'm meant to protect this village," it was a matter of fact and he said it that way. Hana was puzzled by what he meant but didn't say anything else

They would eventually come to the border of river country, the talking stopped then. They were now on a much higher alert level. The rest of the trip was relatively brief and they arrived at the palace of the Daimyo of River Country in the afternoon.

All of the men carved into the face of the Hokage monument were now dead. Konoha was without a leader and at a time when it was close to facing war. That was exactly what was being discussed inside the council room at the moment. The Fire Daimyo joined via a screen.

Hiashi Hyuga found himself sitting in the seat reserved for the Hokage. He had been designated in the wartime protocol as the person who would become acting Hokage should the Hokage perish. It was a system put in place so that in a time of war there would never not be a final authority, a decider.

But he was not meant to be the next Hokage. So this meeting was necessary. He did however get one privilege, he was awarded the right to offer up a single nomination.

"I nominate Hatake Kakashi, he is a student of the fourth, and a well known shinobi of our village. Not to mention he is among our most intelligent and experienced shinobi despite his age," while all of that was true the true reason Hiashi nominated him was because it would give him a decent amount of influence. Something extremely important to him.

"I do not believe that Hatake is mature enough," Danzo dissented, but Hiashi had been prepared.

"Who do you believe should become Hokage?" Shikaku asked, Hiashi lacked time to counter.

"I think it should be me," Danzo made the bold declaration, but nominating oneself was a risky move. The Fire Daimyo just sat listening still. For his often apparent childishness he was one of the most powerful people in the world.

"I do not think it would be wise to name someone of such advanced age to the position, it puts us in a situation where will we be in this position again far too soon," Hiashi jabbed his opinion in again.

Danzo glared at Hiashi, but the Byakugan wielder was unfazed by the old fool. The Daimyo chose this moment to chime in.

"I have to agree with Hiashi, Danzo," That was the end of the issue. There was no arguing with the Daimyo.

"I have two issues with Kakashi, he is one of the best ninja we have and currently he is teaching what amounts to the most promising of our young ninja," Shibi Aburame spoke up. While his voice was a rarity in the room his input was valued. The Aburame were known, within the village, for their objectivity.

"What about Tsunade?" Okami asked the slug sannin had left the village long ago. Okami remembered witnessing her rise to greatness.

"Even if we could get her to return would she be willing to spend the rest of her time here?"

"What if we request Tsunade's return for as long as Kakashi is teaching his team?" Hiashi chimed in again.

"That sounds wonderful! Maybe Tsunade will decide to stay in the village. Send Jiraiya for her and alert Kakashi," the Daimyo directed. "That should be all," the ninja in the room stood just before the screen went black. The meeting was over. Now Hiashi just needed to reach Jiraiya and Kakashi. He couldn't find the record of Kakashi's mission, which likely meant it was S-rank and of SS-level secrecy.

The room emptied quickly and chatter filled the space between the council members. There was a lot occurring in the village hidden in the leaves. Hiashi made his way back to the office of Hokage with a lot on his mind. There was much to do. He started writing out orders and reading scrolls for mission orders. There was no way he'd ever take this job.

Kakashi found himself with a letter in hand, standing in front of Tsunade Senju. The Third Hokage had asked Kakashi to deliver the envelope to Tsunade. He was chosen because of his tracking ability, but also because Tsunade was less likely to kill someone she knew.

"Tsunade-sama, this letter is from the Hokage. He asked you to read it and consider it seriously," there was nothing else to say and so he handed her the letter. She opened it and began reading, she had yet to speak a word to Kakashi, she was livid to have been found at all.

 _Tsunade_

 _You know, more than most, that I have made many mistakes. As my student I hope that you can succeed where I failed. Before the last war you came to me and asked to establish a program for training medic nin. I told you that it was a waste of time. I was wrong, and I believe know that you could have helped save many lives._

 _There is a new war on the horizon, and I cannot repeat the mistakes of my past. I want to ensure that as many of our shinobi survive this conflict as possible. I believe that you can help me accomplish this._

 _You are often thought of as below your teammates, but that is my fault. You have made contributions to medical jutsu which can change the world. I hope that you can use your knowledge to help save lives. I am so sorry for your losses Tsunade, and I know that it is difficult to move on. I know that you blame me, and I am not sure I can call you wrong. But right my wrongs. Please return to the village._

 _Sensei_

"Kakashi, what is this war?" Tsunade asked, her voice was a little dead. Shizune's face was contorted into a puzzled expression.

"We have information, from reliable sources, which indicates that Iwa and Kumo are planning to wage war against Konoha and Suna," Kakashi said this sternly.

Tsunade looked shocked. This wasn't a small conflict, this was a war. As much as Tsunade had her issues with the leaf village she was getting the opportunity to help save people. She knew that Shizune was growing tired of their life. She had known for some time that she should go home. But she had no reason to, and the bitter anger overpowered her better judgement.

"Shizune, we're going home," Kakashi's eyes smiled. This was a great addition. Tsunade would help save many lives, he didn't want to lose any more loved ones to the ninja world, but that was inevitable. This was what they could do as a preventative step.

The meeting between the two princes seemed to go well. After two days at the palace, the shinobi took their leave. The stay in the palace had been the opposite of a break for Team Kakashi. As soon as they arrived they were greeted by the crown prince of the Land of Earth and a unit of five Iwa Chunin. The three Genin were on guard the entire time. Only one of them slept at a time. They remained on edge but were wholly relieved that they would be leaving.

Suruda had been easy going, but that did not mean he was stupid or lacked savvy. He had been having conversations with the other prince the entire time. He had been learning, about Iwa and about the Earth Daimyo; he himself gave up as little information as possible. It seemed as though the Prince of the Land of Earth was a novice. He spoke with little filter and often seemed careless in how he spoke and what he spoke about.

The Iwa group departed in another direction at the same time they did. Naruto and Sasuke trailed the back. The group made it very far, they seemed to be moving at a faster rate than on the trip here. The border was within sight already.

Things change in an instant. The ground directly below Naruto exploded and he was thrown back about 10 feet, he managed to land. Sasuke was now next to an unknown shinobi. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. A kunai was being driven toward his left temple. He felt unable to stop it, but he could see the movement.

Naruto sent a kunai at the assailant, the ninja forced to block it, Sasuke jumped back giving himself room. Another ninja emerged from the earth under Sasuke. Sending the raven haired shinobi in the air. Hana left the Haimaru guarding the prince and ran toward her teammates.

The first ninja was preparing hand signs and looking directly toward Sasuke. Without any words, five large spikes came out of the ground and were sent toward spiraling toward Sasuke. Naruto was engaged in hand to hand combat with the ninja which had attacked Sasuke from underground. He was powerless to assist Sasuke. But he needed to kick it into high gear. He activated his eyes.

Hana saw the helpless Sasuke in the air, unable to control his movement. The spikes would be lethal. Hana launched herself from the ground, she threw her body into the first spike. The chain reaction managed to deflect the spikes enough for Sasuke to land safely. Hana misjudged her motion slightly. The spike she crashed into tore into the flesh of her right arm. She gripped her arm and landed on the ground. She immediately retreated to her dogs, leaving the boys to deal with the onslaught while she got their client to safety. She told the Prince and company to run toward the border. She sent two of the haimaru ahead and kept the last one in the rear, protecting the back.

"Poison style: Great Poison Blob," Naruto initiated his version of the Great Fireball. He directed it to the ninja in front of him. The blob of pink-purple poison was a direct hit at such close range. The ninja screamed in immense pain. He was momentarily paralyzed, Naruto ran toward him with Kunai in hand. He sent the ninja tool into the necros skin of the man's neck. Ending his misery. As he did the skin returned to normal, and the pale skin was covered with rich red blood pumping out of his emptying jugular.

Sasuke was not fairing as well, but his newly activated Sharingan was helping. He had realized that the slow motion vision he was experiencing was a tell-tale sign of an awakened sharingan. He was struggling to keep his space. He wasn't nearly as skilled at hand to hand combat.

"Poison Style: Toxic Bubble Barrage," Naruto turned to one of his favorite techniques. He sent out as many pearl sized bubbles as he could muster. He had laid a minefield, hoping Sasuke could make the most of it. Sasuke gave a grateful nod, while his enemy was dealing with the bubbles he would have time to think. He had time to execute his jutsu.

"Fire Style: Hot Knife," Sasuke held his wrist with the other hand. He formed a flat palm and sent as much chakra into it as much as he could. After concentrating it in his hand he changed the form into heat energy. After that, he locked his eyes into his target. He raised his hand and ran at top speed toward him. Sasuke charged the shinobi who was trapped in a sea of bubbles. Naruto saw what was happening and gave Sasuke a lane. Sasuke's hand rammed through the man's chest but almost immediately cauterized the wound. But that didn't mean the damage was done. The man gasped for breath, his lungs unable to fill with air.

"Pick up the body!" Naruto yelled at Sasuke as he went to pick up the other body. Naruto approached the body and reached down to grab an arm. As soon as he made contact, a bomb went off. His body was thrown, and his ears were ringing viciously.

Sasuke managed to lift up the body without issue. After a brief time, Naruto had recovered mostly, but his ears were still ringing. He shook it off as much he could and began running alongside Sasuke toward the border. The two ninja eventually caught up with the escort. Hana had been guiding the escort further into the land of fire.

They had been moving quickly and were a surprising way through the forest.

As they walked into the Hokage's office the three Genin were starting to feel the effects of all that had happened. Adrenaline was wearing off, but in the presence of the Hokage they would never slump or slack.

"Hiashi-sama?" it was Hana that spoke. Ninja should be able to hold their emotions, but the shock was simply so much, Naruto's face especially revealed his surprise.

"Hiashi-sama, where is the Hokage?" Hiashi looked at the boy deeply. He knew somewhat of the connection the Hiruzen had with Naruto. One could even make out the sadness in his eyes at the news he was forced to deliver.

"The Hokage has passed away, he suffered a heart attack in his sleep," the air seemed to shrink out from the room. Naruto's eyes welled with tears, and he lost control of his breathing. Gasping, he tried to keep the tears at bay. He lost his battle, several tears streamed down his cheeks before he regained his composure. Ninja rule number 25, a ninja must never show their tears.

For the following hour the three of them recounted in extreme detail the events which transpired. While it was troubling that Iwa would attempt such a brazen attack, he was very proud of the three young ninja in front of him. After only a couple of days in the hat Hiashi had felt a further attachment to the village, and more concern for its future. He could see that the three of them were tired and that Naruto was struggling to hold in the emotions associated with the Hokage's death. He was preparing to let them leave when a couple of familiar but unexpected faces stopped in.

"Kakashi-sensei! You're back, how was the mission?" Naruto addressed his sensei happily, he had for the moment forgotten the loss. Behind Kakashi there was a blonde woman, and behind her a black-haired woman holding a pig.

All of the "adults" in the room were shocked to see each other. Hiashi saw Tsunade and wondered what she was doing here, Kakashi had left on his mission before the third had died and before a decision had been made. Kakashi, Tsunade, and Shizune were shocked to see Hiashi Hyuuga standing behind the desk of the hokage.

"Naruto, Hana, Sasuke; if you three wouldn't mind excusing us for the moment. I'd love to hear about your mission later," his students followed his orders and left the room. They bowed to the Hokage on the way out.

One Week Later

Tsunade walked into the room for the first time as Hokage. There had been some pause. The funeral of the third and her own coronation, but the matters at hand could not wait longer. They had to deal with the threat.

"Hokage-Sama!" they all announced, standing as she entered the room. While Hiruzen had relaxed the formality everyone was careful to show her the utmost respect. For now she would let it continue.

"Okay. There is really only one matter we need to discuss. Our response to the attempted capture of the prince of the land of fire," she began taking her seat, "I ask all of you to keep in mind that there has been no further escalation and no further chatter. The world is waiting for us."

"The tsuchikage. I believe it is time for a definitive show of strength, but not a foolhardy run into battle, we are not samurai. Let us tell the rest of the world that the Leaf is home to the best ninja the world has. Let us assassinate the Earth Shadow."

Everyone was a gasp, it was not Danzo who spoke these words. It was not the babbling of some war hawk. It was the voice of reason, Shikaku.

"I stand behind this," it was several voices that chirped back in accidental unison. It was a testament to the idea that Danzo, Okami and Hiashi could agree on a singular measure.

"Is there anyone with reservations?" Tsunade asked the room.

"Only that if we fail there will be war," Shibi spoke, moving his glasses up to his eyes as he did.

"And if we do not, there will be war as well. A village without a leader is not as much of a threat. An alliance with only one head is easy to defeat," it was Asuma who spoke in support. He had been made the representative of the Sarutobi clan.

"I agree. But i believe we should go bigger, and bring the village to its knees. Kill their kage and then some of their larger trading partners," it was a surprise hearing this from Tsunade who typically hated war. She saw this as a means to stopping it and she would do anything to avoid it.

"The elimination of the kage and then some high profile trading partners. The kage should be killed shortly before the exam," Shibi said joining the discussion now that the general idea had been decided.

"Yes, if they don't show they seem weak. If they send a new Kage then it will be a rushed decision and they'll likely lack the manpower for any immediate assault."

"I will remain in the village for the tournament. For the time resigning as Hokage. Kakashi will attend the exam as the Hokage and as their teacher," Tsunade spoke after Kakashi.

"Yes. A lot seems to be riding on the performance of those three, but after their last mission I feel confident," shikaku weighed in again.

"Shikaku, using our intelligence put together a list of the 15 most important private individuals to Iwagakure. We'll sporadically have some of the lower importance individuals killed, test their reactions," the man nodded to his hokage.

"The during the exam we take out the big targets no time to address the issue with a new kage away from his village," Kakashi chimed in. He occupied a fairly unique position. He had only his council seat for the moment, but he was Hokage-elect. In a year or two he would be in that chair and therefore he commanded a certain amount of authority. At the same level as the Jounin commander of Hiashi. The ones on the council who held the most clout. But he was very much concerned with creating a power dynamic issue, he wouldn't step on Tsunade's toes, she was his leader.

"Kakashi, do you think they have a chance?" Danzo opened his mouth in the moment of silence.

"If they continue to progress at the same rate. They will win," the man was confident in his students. Danzo simply nodded, he was unsure what to make of the answer, was it a result of hubris?

Gaara often stood alone, up on the kage tower. The winds were strong, but the sand was not nearly as dense in the air. You could see far. He would sit and stare at the village an alien in his home. Regarded as a demon who drank the blood of anyone. He had killed children younger than him, but also ninja. There was nothing anyone could do, not even his father.

"Gaara, I have decided to teach you," the Kazekage lied like a used goods salesmen. In other words he wasn't very convincing. Gaara hardly looked his way. The council had decided that he must be trained further before his journey to Iron Country. In Suna the Kazekage was slightly less despotic than the leaf and a majority vote of the council and the support of the prince who sat on the village board could overturn his decision.

He did not find this decision to be objectionable. Gaara was a monster and a weapon of the village. This was the last stage of preparing a kunai, it needed to be sharpened and then it needed to draw blood.

Gaara had still offered no response, he instead stared blank eyed and unwavering, unmoving.

"We will first test your ultimate defense. Come with me," and he put his hand on Gaara's shoulder. Not in a loving way, in a controlling fear inducing way. Gaara was afraid of only death, and he was aware that his father could kill him.

Gaara was taken underneath the sand. Into a training site. It was nicknamed the box. It had no sand in it. It was a one-way glass chamber. Gaara was placed inside, with only the sand which protected his body.

Three doors opened and the seen quickly mirrored a contest of gladiators. Four doors opened on the side of the box opposite to Gaara. They were missing nin, jounin. They were in full gear. Each of them had been promised their freedom if they could kill Gaara.

Naruto was sound asleep in his home. A knock at the door snapped him awake rather quickly. Even a ninja who was sleeping soundly was always on edge. He got to the door to see a masked agent knocking.

"Your presence is requested by the Hokage immediately. I will be escorting you," the shinobi spoke with little emotion, the voice belonged to a woman. Naruto only nodded and got dressed as fast as possible. He followed the Anbu's path, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Eventually they made it to the Hokage's tower.

"Good, Naruto you're here. There has been a kidnapping. Hanabi Hyuga was taken from her home after a group of three ninja were detected entering our barrier." It was Tsunade herself speaking. Naruto scanned the room. Sasuke was present along with Hinata, he could guess this meeting was for high risk targets.

Hinata stood strong, there was pain in her eyes, but she was a ninja and would not shed a tear. She was also holding a fist tightly, she wanted to be searching for her sister.

"I need you all to stay here until the situation is dealt with," the hokage spoke again.

These three ninja were all unique and very much key to the village's future power. None of them were replaceable.

Time passed and the level of anxiety in the room was increasing dramatically.

"It hasn't been announced yet, but since you will all be participating I find no issue in telling you early," the three genin, the three strongest of their graduating class, all seemed distracted for the moment. They listened intently to what the Hokage explained next. "In one month we will be holding a special tournament of sorts, all active genin teams in Konoha are required to participate."

"But what is the goal of such an activity Tsunade-sama, it seems like a wasted effort to fight amongst ourselves," Hinata spoke although quietly.

"Yeah, wouldn't our time be better spent training, the grand competition is around the corner," Naruto chimed in.

"Well the tournament serves a dual purpose. It provides Genin the opportunity to gain combat experience and examine their standing. It also gives us the chance to survey the state of our military. The Lord of the Land of Fire will be attending the final phase. He will even be selecting a ninja for his personal guard. Of course none of you will be eligible for such an assignment," the kids now had wide smiles on their faces. This tournament was one that could bring a great deal of prestige. "Unfortunately you'll have to wait like everyone else for more information." As she finished speaking doors barged open.

"Tsunade-sama we have recovered Hanabi and all the assailants. One of her eyes was removed. She has been taken to the hospital." The Anbu had not yet finished speaking. Tsunade was out of the door and on her way to the Hospital. There was no one better than her to perform the surgery. Hinata followed closely behind.

Naruto and Sasuke stood still in the office having received no directions.

"Is there any word on who committed the crime?" Naruto asked the Anbu operative who had been left standing in the entryway.

"No. The ninja were without headbands. They were killed on contact as they were about to remove Hanabi's other eye," It was only after the masked ninja spoke for a second time that the boys realized who it was. Kakashi removed his mask and let his hair up. It was technically against the rules for him to reveal his identity. But he was the next Hokage so he figured he wouldn't be punished too hard. Plus these were his students, two of the people he cared most about.

"Kakashi-sensei, I don't mean to be callous, but can i go back to sleep. I expect a difficult day of training tomorrow," Kakashi nodded in response. The two boys headed back home.

The voice of the anbu operative who came to alert him stuck in Naruto's head. It reminded him of Hana's voice. He thought about the two of his teammates. He saw Sasuke as his friend, but also his competition. Sasuke was his only roadblock to becoming Hokage. Hana was different, she was his best friend's sister. She worked harder than either of her teammates. Naruto loved training with her.


End file.
